Renaissance
by Virtual Maiden
Summary: Co-written by Ruriko Minamino. Yami, Bakura, & Marik have achieved world domination. But at what price? The death of the three most important people in the world to them. Will they see the error of their ways?, YxYY,RxYB,MxYM,SxJ,TxRj. slight AU. R&R!
1. The World

**Renaissance**  
_By: Virtual Maiden and Ruriko Minamino_

  
  
Disclaimer = In short, we don't own YGO!   
  
Full Summary = Yami, Bakura, and Marik have achieved their goal – world domination. But at what price? The death of the three most important people in the world to them. Will they see the error of their ways? Or will their lives forever loose their light?   
  
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**_Chapter 1:_ The World**  
  
_ Crimson eyes scanned through the vast darkness. A tri-color-haired teen wandered through the endless path that lay before him, searching for even a speck of light. He was alone. It was so very cold. Frantically, he searched. There must be something… But where? Oh! There must be something!   
  
Suddenly, as if his prayers were answered, a flash of light appeared and destroyed the darkness. Yami stood completely in awe as a figure suddenly approached him; someone the teen knew, a very familiar face. Yes, it was the closest and most important person in his life, the person with same tri-colored hair but with soft, loving amethyst eyes. The person gently smiled at the teen, but the moment quickly faded away when the teen tried to hold this person. The person backed away and the teen was confused as he heard the person cry.   
  
Upon closer inspection…the tears that was supposed to look like sparkling crystals were red rivulets flowing down his cheeks – the person was crying tears of bright red blood.   
  
The teen backed away, sheer horror visible in his features.   
  
"Y-Yugi? Aibou?" the teen whispered in confusion.   
  
"Why did you kill me?", the person, indeed Yugi, asked in between his sobs, bloody tears still running down his face, his clothes which were before of the purest of white were now also stained with blood. He slowly walked up to the teen with both hands stretched out. The teen froze on the spot and stared in shock and horror at the once beautiful person of pure innocence, now entirely covered in blood. Once again, the apparition spoke, asking the same question as before.   
  
"Yugi, NO!!!!" Yami cried out as hi beloved became brighter and brighter and began to disappear.   
  
"Why… Yami…. Why?"   
  
_ ~*~*~*~*~*~  
  
Crimson eyes shot open. Pharaoh Yami, ruler of the Middle Continent, woke in a cold sweat, panting hard, but still clutching his pillow fiercely. He wasn't in a dark void. He was in his palace bedroom, in Egypt, quite safe, but alone.   
  
_'It was that dream again,'_ he thought, releasing the pillow and burying his face in his hands as his heartbeat slowly returned to normal.   
  
The sun had yet to rise and so it was still dark outside. As Yami's breathing finally evened out, he remembered, or was actually being reminded of, what he had given up three years ago, what he had destroyed without a second thought, all for the sake of the ultimate power. He clenched his fists and gritted his teeth. He couldn't hold back any longer the tears that were threatening to fall. He missed his light, his aibou, his tenchi, his love, his world, his hikari, his everything… But there was nothing he could do. What was done was done.   
  
He laid back in his bed and cried himself to sleep….  
  
Later that morning, there was a loud continuous knocking on the chamber's doors, and Yami knew of only one person bold enough to knock that loudly and disturb his slumber. He sighed and yelled out as loud as he could.   
  
"I'm up, I'm up! YOU CAN COME IN, JOEY!"   
  
At that command, the doors burst open with a soft thud and revealed a blonde-haired boy dressed in a blue cape and green armor. He slowly walked up to the bed (which was on the other, far end of the room) and stopped a the bottom. Yami was about to ask why he was being bothered so early in the morning, but Joey Wheeler, his close friend and one of the Royal Naval Commanders, beat him and was first to speak.   
  
"Good mornin', Pharaoh Yami –"   
  
"Joey…don't call me that. We're alone right now. Just call me Yami and cut the formalities," Yami smirked. "You know, if you were anyone else, I'd have sent you to the Shadow Realm for bothering me this early."   
  
Joey winced, then seeing that his friend was kidding, he laughed and continued. "Sorry, Yami. Anyway, ya paperwork's pilin' up again in ya study an' Seto sent me 're ta remind ya."   
  
Yami let out a long sigh. "Doesn't that man take a break? Now I know why Bakura, Marik, and I made him our chief advisor. Wonder if he even stops when he's tired or – "   
  
"Ya don't know how much time 'e spends in bed – eep!" Joey covered his mouth. "Did I jus' say tha' ou' loud?"   
  
Yami's huge grin was enough of an answer for him. The Pharaoh knew the two had something going for a while now, but until he saw Joey turn red as a tomato right in front of him, he didn't know just how far they'd gone.   
  
"Err…um, we-well, I better get back ta work. There's a, uh new battle ship I gotta check out back in Australia. S-see ya later, yer Majesty!" Joey stuttered, trying to make a light ending to the conversation. He knew Yami hated being addressed thus, so he used it to tease the Pharaoh often.   
  
"Wait, Joey!" Yami called, sliding out of bed, slipping the Millennium Puzzle over his neck and grabbing the Millennium Scale and Millennium Ankh, slipping the two Items onto his waist.   
  
"Huh? What is it, Yami?" Joey asked, eyeing the Items apprehensively.   
  
Yami noticed the look and raised an eyebrow. "Aren't you going to stay for the games?"   
  
"Games? What 'bou yer paper work – ?"   
  
"It's okay." Yami shrugged and walked over to a divan, where his clothes for the day were laid out. "Seto can shove those papers down his ass – No offense taken, I hope."   
  
Joey snickered. "None taken. He can be an ass summa th' time…" He blushed scarlet again.   
  
Yami laughed and pointed imperiously at the door. "Great. Just wait outside. I'll follow in a few minutes."   
  
"Uh…sure…" Joey walked out, muttering something that sounded suspiciously like 'Seto's gonna kill me'.   
  
When the door closed, Yami laugh softly to himself again, then sighed. He kinda envied those two – Joey and Seto. He wanted someone to be with and to love, someone who would love him back. Sure he would occasionally sleep with one of his whores, who all adored him and fawned over him anyway, but nobody would really take the place of his lost light.   
  
He swiped away the clothes that had been left out for him. _'Remind me to send my valet to the Shadow Realm for this. His taste is disgusting!'_ He yawned lazily and went to his wardrobe. 'Now these are clothes!' Inside his humongous wardrobe, there was about a ton of leather, heap upon heap of buckles and collars, belts by the hundred and much more. Picking out something suitable for the day (and generally messing and ransacking the entire closet in the process) he got dressed and went outside to find a still waiting Joey pacing around in his room's antechamber.   
  
"Sorry if I kept you waiting," Yami said, stepping out onto the marble floors, his boots tapping sharp staccatos on the floor as he went to the Commander's side.   
  
"Uh. Sure. No prob," Joey replied, shrugging as the two started down the hall. "Whatcha wanna do? Ya ain't eaten yet, right?"   
  
"I'm not much of a breakfast person. I'd rather start my day with a good game." Yami's eyes were lost in thought, already thinking of what he would order to be played for his amusement. Perhaps, if it got interesting, he would join in the games as well. Maybe order to card duel. He hadn't played _that_ game in a few months. The losers, save for the best of the lot, would of course be sent into the Shadow Realm as punishment.   
  
"Pharaoh! I thought I'd find you here," a very familiar voice floated in from the hall behind them. Yami and Joey turned to face a tall brunette with piercing blue eyes and a serious expression. He wore a business suit underneath a long, billowy black robe, and carried a staff in one hand, while holding a small laptop in the other.   
  
"Seto," Yami greeted his Chief Advisor cordially. _'Damn! Caught!'_ "I didn't expect to find you here so early in the day."   
  
"I've been up since the puppy left our manor in Brazil at dawn," Seto Kaiba replied, turning his eyes from Yami to regard his blonde lover. The blonde met his eye and turned slightly red before Seto continued. "I don't suppose you've forgotten the way to your office, have you? As I recall, it's down the East wing, and this, Pharaoh Yami, is the West wing, where your private game arenas are." A slight smirk crossed Seto's serious features.   
  
Yami groaned. "No, I haven't forgotten. I'm not as bad as Marik!"   
  
Joey patted him on his back. "Sorry pal. Nothin' seems ta escape Seto these days."   
  
"Speaking of which, I decided to drop you off in Australia before I go check on the Emperor," Seto said to Joey, rolling his eyes as he said 'Emperor'.   
  
"Oh! Fine by me. Yami?" Joey and Seto turned to the Pharaoh, by way of asking for dismissal.   
  
"Whatever. Like Seto said, I have paperwork to do," Yami said with a sigh, adjusting the cord of the Millennium Scales and rubbing at his temples. "You checking on the King later too? If you are, tell him he owes me a duel."   
  
"I will," Seto promised, starting to turn. "You will finish that paperwork, won't you?"   
  
"Yeah, sure."   
  
"Very well. The next World Meeting will be this coming Friday, by the way." Seto peered into his laptop.   
  
"Just go already. I don't want to think about those two Ra-forsaken idiots until the actual day!" Yami burst out.   
  
Seto and Joey nodded, the former stone-cold sober, the latter smirking. They half-bowed and walked off down the corridor back the way they'd came.   
  
Yami smirked when they'd disappeared from view. _'Well, Joey won't be here, but who said I'd have to cancel the games? I'm the Pharaoh, after all!' _He started off again in the direction of the arenas. Bakura had the feared torture zone, and insane Marik handled the casinos, but Yami stuck to his old hobby, games of the mind and body. Why not? He was, after all, the Game King. Suddenly, the image of amethyst eyes crying rivers of blood crossed his mind. He frowned and shook his head. _'What's done is done. I can't… won't reverse the past.'_ He held his head high and squared his shoulders with newfound resolve.   
  
_'But sometimes, I wish otherwise…'_  
  
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_ He knew this place, the silvery-haired teen thought. It is, or had once been, his home – the home of the one he'd loved. Time seemed to speed forward and he was standing in a familiar bedroom. He turned, hearing a quiet sobbing in a corner.   
  
There was another boy, one with the same silvery locks, but with softer, deep brown eyes, on the ground, completely naked, his pale skin covered in bloody bruises. The silvery haired teen knew that he himself had inflicted these wounds. He moved closer, but the boy on the floor whimpered and huddled closer to the wall, afraid.   
  
Bakura resisted the urge to hold his hikari in his arms. Lost in thought he didn't notice his hikari cry once again. He was angry at his hikari's weakness, and, snarling in annoyance, half-raised his hand to hit the smaller boy. But something stopped him. Brown eyes began to spout a fountain of blood. Bakura was shocked and slowly put his hand down. He felt do guilty. He knew it was his fault that his beloved one feared him so. He had wounded, emotionally, physically, and mentally, the most pure and beautiful creature he had ever known.   
  
He wanted to hold his hikari; he wanted to love and be loved, but he hide this because love seemed to him a weakness, something he never wanted to possess. But looking once more at the fearful creature before him, he threw all thoughts from his mind. Just once, he wanted to know how it felt , and so he inched closer to his beloved Ryou. He tried to touch his loved one's shoulder and his eyes widen as his hand went through his weeping light's body. His hikari was fading from view.   
  
"Ryou?!…Ryou, no!" the silvery-haired yami cried out, reaching, trying to grasp his hikari, begging for him to become solid again.   
  
"Why, 'Kura? Why'd you kill me?" Ryou asked, only his face left in view.   
  
The room had dissolved in darkness. All Bakura could see were his hikari's bloody eyes. He heard just one more word before his hikari faded away completely.   
  
"Why?"   
  
_ ~*~*~*~*~*~  
  
Emperor Bakura of the Eastern Continent awoke, clutching at his chest. His hand trembled as he turned to look around. He'd fallen off his bed in the middle of the night, a goblet of wine rolling away. He'd been dinking in bed again and apparently, he had had too much.   
  
_'Not again… Ra-damnable dream… Not again…' _he thought, heaving himself unsteadily into bed. Yes, he was just probably drunk. He was quite fine and comfortable in his palace in Japan. Yes, there was nothing upsetting him. Who was he kidding? He'd felt something. Regret? Or was it something else? He didn't know that. All he knew was that he missed his little tenchi a lot. By Set! He'd gotten what he'd wanted, right? He had power, much more than he'd ever dreamed. It didn't matter that he had to share. He had more than he could have handled by himself anyway. But there was something missing…  
  
He slammed his head into his pillows and let out a frustrated snarl, shedding a few silent tears as he willed himself to sleep….  
  
Hours later, he felt someone enter his room silently. It wasn't one of Bakura's whores – they made too much noise in their excitement to 'surprise' their master. The person was good, if he could move without making a sound. But not good enough. Bakura was, after all, a well-trained tomb robber. As the figure approached his bed, Bakura leapt up and within seconds, he had his dagger pressed to the throat of the invader.   
  
"Easy there, your Majesty! Chill, Bakura!" the 'disturbance', a tall teen with dark brown hair facing a weird angle and wearing a red cape and black armor with a sword strapped to his waist said, sweat forming on his brow.   
  
Bakura moaned and released him, settling back onto his bed. He had a hang-over. "Why did I agree to letting you become a Field Marshal again, Tristan?"   
  
Tristan Tailor, one of the Royal Army Commanders, breathed a sigh of relief and sat down in one of Bakura's many lounging chairs. "I don't know what you, Yami, and Marik were thinking, but as far as I know, I came to wake you up. None of your servants were willing to do that and since I was in the country…"  
  
"You took it upon yourself to do that," Bakura finished. "Mind grabbing the aspirins on the dresser? My head is killing me!" He lay down on the bed again, rubbing his head.   
  
"Sure thing," Tristan replied, getting up and retrieving the said medicine. "It would be better for you though, if you didn't drink so much!"   
  
"Don't say that! You're starting to sound like the damned Pharaoh!" Bakura groaned, taking the pill and downing them in one gulp. "What time is it?"   
  
"Almost noon, your Majesty," Tristan replied. He regarded the pale, suffering ruler with a sympathetic face. "You've got about half an hour before your Chief Advisor gets here and hauls you off to do paperwork."   
  
Bakura got up and pulled on the Millennium Eye and Millennium Ring, which had previously been hanging above his headboard. He basically ignored Tristan as he shuffle over to his closet and shrugged into some day clothes, basically silks and leather.   
  
"What did you do to your valet?" Tristan asked finally. "Isn't he supposed to get out your clothes for you."   
  
"What else? The usual."   
  
Tristan gulped as Bakura walked towards the door and beckoned for him to follow. He knew quite well that 'the usual' either meant the Shadow Realm, or Bakura's personal torture chamber. The pair walked out of Bakura's rooms in silence. Tristan once again wondered why he was the one stuck baby-sitting Emperor Bakura. Joey was luckier. He got Yami. Even Tristan's lover, Ryuuji was doing better with Marik.   
  
"Anyone to torture today?" Bakura asked, pulling Tristan from his thoughts.   
  
"No."   
  
"Anyone to feed to the lions?" They passed the elevators heading for the dungeons.   
  
"Nope."   
  
"Any uprising to squash?" They walked past the military chambers.   
  
"None at the moment."   
  
""Any new whores around?" Bakura looked at Tristan slyly.   
  
"N – Bakura!!!!! How would I know?" Tristan blushed scarlet.   
  
"Hmmm…. Still seeing Ryuuji, huh?" Bakura noted, tapping into the Millennium Eye's powers.   
  
Before Tristan could stutter out a reply, Seto walked out into the hall with a frown.   
  
"First Yami, now you. Isn't there at least one of you blasted yami's who's going to do their work?" Seto asked in vexation.   
  
Bakura smirked, taking out his favorite knife and testing it on his finger. "Hello, Seto. What brings you here today?"   
  
"The mere fact that I have to be here is enough to spoil my mood." Seto had his laptop out again and had deftly passed Tristan his staff. "I arrived early and passed by your office, which happens not to have been visited in the last few days."   
  
"Hey, Marik hasn't used his in over a month," Bakura returned. _'Ra-damned Advisor! If he wasn't so useful, I'd send him to the Shadow Realm – Mad Yami, or no mad Yami!' _They'd entered a small (if there was anything small in that palace) tearoom and Bakura snapped his fingers for a servant to bring over refreshments.   
  
Seto declined to sit down as sake and rice cakes were served. "Just get your paperwork done before Friday."   
  
"Meeting Day?"   
  
"Yes. There's a small uprising near Scandinavia to be discussed. As well as the plans for the next year." Seto was busily typing on his laptop.   
  
Bakura turned on Tristan and hurled his knife, barely missing his cheek. "You said there was nothing going on!"   
  
"I didn't know about that stuff! Joey was supposed to be looking at things up there, not me!" Tristan retorted, rubbing the side of his face.   
  
"Then there's also the rebellion in Mexico to quell and – I will just tell you on Friday," Seto concluded, seeing that Bakura looked ready to kill. Sighing, he left the tearoom and went back to the transport bay to begin his trip to the Americas to check upon 'King' Marik.   
  
Bakura was glad he was gone. Besides, it was more fun to have a riled up Tristan around any day. As the upset Field Marshal flopped back down to pout, Bakura chanced to glance into his sake cup. For a moment, what he beheld was not his own face, with its agate hard purplish brown eyes, but a face with eyes of a softer brown, tears of blood seeming to taint the cup of clear liquor. _'Ryou…'_ His eyes softened in regret at the memory, then he turned back to Tristan with a renewed smirk on his face.   
  
_'Wish he were here, though…'_  
  
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_Partying up a storm, oh yeah! This was definitely his idea of a good time. Platinum blonde hair swayed around in time to the beat. Clubbing was definitely one of the best things in the modern world. Well… except for the numerous opportunities for world domination. Yeah, that was right.   
  
Deep lavender eyes scanned the crowds, landing on a flash of blonde hair as bright as his own.   
  
Swearing Egyptian curses, he caught up to the person and tackled him to the ground, just as everything dissolved into darkness.   
  
"What was that for? Why'd you chase me?" Marik's eyes widened to see that the boy he'd been chasing, Malik, was covered in bloody wounds. "What's the matter? Is the brave Marik too scared to speak?"   
  
"Ra be damn if I was ever afraid! What happened to you, you little minx?" Malik snarled, but his voice was tinged with worry.   
  
Inexplicably, he wanted to go to his hikari's side and just hold him. He drew near. Malik did not back away. Marik's hand reached his hikari's tanned skin and expected to feel warmth. But there was only an icy chill. Without warning, Malik's arm broke off, showering blood everywhere. Marik gasped.   
  
"Why'd you kill me?" Even as he spoke, the smaller of the two blondes was breaking apart, piece by piece breaking of from his body. Suddenly, he burst apart and only his face remained, floating in nothingness. His lavender eyes shed silent tears.   
  
Marik couldn't speak. The eyes continued to stare at him and shed tears.   
  
"Answer the question. Why?"   
  
_ ~*~*~*~*~*~  
  
It was very comfortable, where Marik was at the moment. To say the least, he wasn't too happy when he jolted out of his dream and opened his eyes. It was dark, like I the dream, but it wasn't cold, and he was most certainly more comfortable. He was lying in his bed in the White House, in the United States, an arms wrapped around two luscious-looking blonde wenches. _'Gotta love the Americas!'_  
  
Suddenly, the memory of his dream returned. He sat up in bed and the girls stirred. "What is it, master?" one of them purred, moving closer.   
  
"Leave. I need to be alone," Marik said. It was funny to hear him say that, but knowing his temper all too well, the girls departed. _'Why'd I have to dream about that again? I'm not Bakura or Yami! I don't regret anything I do!' _he thought. "FUCK IT ALL!!!!" he yelled at the top of his voice. Seemingly exhausted, he collapsed back onto the bed and finally allowed a single tear to fall down his cheeks. He fell asleep again, this time, no dreams disturbing his repose…  
  
The next morning, there was a loud bickering outside his doors. He opened his eyes and noticed that the two blonde girls were back, cuddling against his hard body._ 'I must've rang for them again in the middle of the night,' _he thought, sitting up slightly. By Sekhmet, they were noisy! Marik reached over one of the blondes and retrieved the Millennium Rod and Millennium Tauk from under his pillow, tapping on the girls with the Rod, commanding them to go on sleeping, but come closer.   
  
"Do you really want to walk in on him like that?! Last time, I almost lost my leg!" the unmistakable voice of Air Force Commander Ryuuji Otogi argued loudly.   
  
"If it's what'll wake him up, yes!" another familiar voice said. It was Seto this time. "It's already 2 PM and he still has paperwork to do!"   
  
"I'm warning you… It's your life you're endangering if he's in a bad mood!"   
  
"Fine! Stand back!" With that, the doors opened and Seto Kaiba burst in, an angry look on his face. He stopped short when he saw exactly what Marik was doing on the bed. "Oh, shit!"   
  
Ryuuji poked his head in the room and immediately dragged Seto out, banging the door behind them.   
  
"Damn, Marik! You're a king, show some decency!" Seto's voice snarled, once outside the rooms again.   
  
"It's my life! I'll do what I want!" Marik bellowed in reply. "I can do your paperwork some other time!" He smiled sardonically._ 'That'll teach him to stop barging in on me!'_   
  
"Oh, fine!" Seto called out in defeat. "Just don't forget, you have a meeting with Yami and Bakura on Friday!"   
  
Marik didn't reply. Hearing footsteps receding down the hall, he sighed._ 'I wish Malik could have seen that…' _But really, it was too late for such wishes. Marik didn't have his hikari anymore, and nothing could be done about that. He could wish and pray (he would've, if he believed in prayer), but nothing would change the past. Shrugging, he tapped on the girls again. _'A good fuck will fix me.'_  
  
But deep inside, he knew nothing would.   
  
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**End of Chapter!!!!**   
  
V. Maiden: I'm evil… I can't believe I did this…  
  
Ruriko: I can believe it… I helped, remember? (smirks and goes over script)   
  
V. Maiden: (glares daggers and throws Tea plushie at Ruriko) You don't have to rub it in! And I don't want this devil-incarnate plushie coming back….  
  
Ruriko: (ducks and hits Tea plushie with Bakura plushie like in baseball) I don't want it, either…  
  
Seto: Please excuse the two morons…. (Tea plushie hits him on the head)   
  
V. Maiden: Uh… oh…  
  
Ruriko: We are soooo dead.. (backs out of room with V. Maiden) Peace OFFERRING!!!!! (shoves Joey plushie at Seto's chest)   
  
Seto: Fine, you're forgiven… FOR NOW.   
  
V. Maiden: Back to the topic… What's my line again?   
  
Ruriko: (hits V. Maiden on head with Yami plushie) Remember now?   
  
V. Maiden: … NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO… Wait. I remember a small… Itsie-bitsie detail. It's gonna get better…But why should I tell you?   
  
Ruriko: (rolls eyes) You don't have to tell me, idiot! We went over it earlier.   
  
V. Maiden: Oh, yeah. NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!!!   
  
Seto: Knock it off with the 'no's already. (throws laptop at V. Maiden's head to shut her up)   
  
V. Maiden (runs out with laptop, looking at images): Naughty mind, Seto! Oooooooo….. What's Joey doing in his birthday suite?   
  
Seto: Give that back!!!!!!!!!!!! (promptly chases V. Maiden across town)   
  
Ruriko: Censoring what they're yelling… damn, I have to finish this on my own… In the next chapter, Isis and Shadi step into the picture and Joey and the rest try to figure out what's the matter with the three yamis.   
  
V. Maiden: (coming back, panting, still holding laptop) AND WE WILL NOT KEEP THE HIKARI'S DEAD TOO LONG!!!!! We love them too much. (runs off again when she sees Seto coming)   
  
Ruriko: Okay… Bye for now!!!   
  
V. Maiden: x_x  
  
Ruriko: -_-;;; 


	2. The Hanged man

**Renaissance**  
_By: Virtual Maiden and Ruriko Minamino_

  
  
_Ruriko_: Hey all!!!! We're back! Sorry took long! I just got V.M. here out of the hospital - You know, because of the Seto incident.  
  
_V. Maiden_: Don't remind me… I'm still trying to erase the memory! I've never seen Seto that angry before! And just because I sent the picture of Joey in his birthday suit to Joey himself!  
  
_Ruriko_: Baka (stupid)…… At least today's muse doesn't bite - I think.  
  
_Ryuuji_: Dude, I don't do biting. I'd rather read this - or play with my dice. Wanna see a trick? (winks)  
  
_Ruriko_: (starry-eyed, adoring Ryuuji) Sure…. Anything….  
  
_V. Maiden_: (smacks Ruriko and Ryuuji with a Tea plushie) Snap out of it! We've got a story to do! (stares at evil plushie) Eeeeeep!!! Why am I holding this?! (throws devil-incarnate 50 feet in the air and gets out of range) Besides, aren't you with Tristan?  
  
_Ryuuji_: He won't mind. (crosses fingers)  
  
_V. Maiden_: Somehow, I doubt that….   
  
_Ruriko_: Um… Let's go answer reviews, shall we?  
  
Osiris Lee = R.M.: Thanks! Took a ton of editing and sugar rushes to do this! V.M.: Thanks for reviewing! (glomps)  
  
Sakurai No Yuki = R.M.: Wonder a bit more… We'll get to that… Some day… V.M.: And remember, they killed their light but wait and find out what will happen to the hikaris… We love you too!!!! Ryuuji: And you're one bad ass chick too!  
  
Immortal Memories = Ryuuji: Hey dude, it's part of the plot. V.M.: Hey, why are you answering our reviews?! R.M.: -_-;;  
  
crazyrabidfangurl01 = R.M.: But what about Yugi? Don't you like those cute, super-huge puppy-dog eyes? Oh, but I agree - Ryou and Malik are hot (but not as hot as the three yamis!!!!) V.M.:I also think those two are hot. They will be back. We love them too much!  
  
AmenOsiriu = R.M.: Please don't say that about Yami (makes big puppy-dog eyes). All will be explained in due time… Details in later chapters! V.M.: It's all part of the plot. It had to happen.  
  
Disclaimer = In short, we don't own YGO!   
  
Full Summary = Yami, Bakura, and Marik have achieved their goal - world domination. But at what price? The death of the three most important people in the world to them. Will they see the error of their ways? Or will their lives forever loose their light?   
  
Warning = reference to sexual situations (Ruriko: bad, if you blush real easy!)  
  
R&R!!!!  
  
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_**Chapter 2:**_ The Hanged Man  
  
That Friday…  
  
Chief Advisor Seto Kaiba stomped angrily through the corridors off the embassy in the Red Square in Moscow, Russia. Joey Wheeler, his lover and one of the world's Royal Navy Commanders, could have sworn saw steam coming out of Seto's head. But the seething mad advisor seemed to calm down a _little_ bit when they arrived at the huge double doors that led to the main council room's antechamber. The doors opened to reveal a round-shaped room, which, to Joey's perspective, must have been a lounge room because of its many armchairs and sofas and blazing fireplace.   
  
"Argh…I'm getting a head ache," the Chief Advisor moaned, rubbing his temples and causing him to almost drop his laptop before collapsing in one of the armchairs. Taking a seat himself, Joey started to ask a question, the answer of which he already knew.   
  
"What's th' prob - " Seto cut him off.   
  
"_**WHAT'S THE PROBLEM**_!? Those _**LUNATICS**_ decided to take over the world then don't do their responsibility and I'm here working my ass off everyday to get things running in this world and when the paperwork gets to their desks, what happens? _**NOTHING**_!!!" He said it all in one breath, before burying his head in Joey's shoulder, an act he almost never carried out. "I think the only reason I put up with them is because the Kaiba Corporation is still in existence."   
  
"Sheesh! Cool off, why don't ya," Joey said in a half-soothing, half-exasperated manner, rubbing his lover's back. The Kaiba Corporation was still very important to Seto, although he was training Mokuba to take his place as CEO in a few years.   
  
"But still… Something's wrong," Seto stated, suddenly sitting up straight and looking at Joey seriously.   
  
Joey was taken aback by the sudden mood change but manage to blurt out a question. "What's wrong, Seto?" Before Seto could reply, the door burst open to reveal a jet-black haired Royal Air Force Commander and his brunette lover.   
  
"Well, Ryuuji, love, I'm not that sure…" the brown-haired Tristan Tailor, Field Marshal and member of the Royal Army, said doubtfully as he walked into the room, hand in hand with his emerald-eyed lover.   
  
"Dude, we really need to get somethin' out of them. They've been acting waaay to weird, Tris," Ryuuji Otogi argued, before his eyes landed on Seto and Joey. He nudged his lover and they both stopped in their tracks and smiled. "Hey, when'd you guys get here?"   
  
"Joey! Seto! Great ta see ya!!!!" Tristan cried out, leaving Ryuuji's side and grabbing Joey in a bear hug. He released the blonde and turned to glomp Seto, but froze when he saw the advisor's face.   
  
"Hey, did we miss anything?" asked Ryuuji, also noticing Seto's serious expression.   
  
"Um… Not really - if you don't count Seto's screaming bloody murder a few minutes ago," Joey said, smiling innocently at the grim-faced CEO.   
  
"Honestly, Seto, your mood-swings are getting wilder by the day!" Tristan commented, rolling his eyes and sinking down onto a loveseat, pulling Ryuuji beside him.   
  
"An' he used ta be sooo calm an' composed," Joey said teasingly.   
  
"And quiet," Ryuuji added with a smirk.   
  
Seto grumbled something that sounded remarkably like 'fuck off'.   
  
"What?" Joey raised one hand near his ear playfully.   
  
The Chief Advisor just changed the subject. "Has anyone, aside form me, noticed that our three 'Masters' are acting more insane and weird than usual?"   
  
At this Joey scratched his head but then something hit him. "Come ta think of it…Yami was actin' kinda funny; he seems ta stare off inta space most o' th' time. An' 'e almost lost yesterday in one o' 'is games an' instead o' bein' amused, he called ou' Feral Imp an' set it against the competitor - " Joey scowled in annoyance as Tristan interrupted.   
  
"That was nothing! Bakura seems to be more jumpy than usual. Heck! A maid dropped a glass yesterday and startled him. He sent her to the Shadow Realm on the spot! Too bad. She was a pretty one." Ryuuji glared and Tristan hurried to finish his story. "He keeps trying to send everyone to the Shadow Realm with little or no reason at all!" He shuddered. Then, he, Joey, and Seto looked at Ryuuji expectantly.   
  
"What? Why are you all staring at me…" the former DDM Player asked.   
  
"Ryuuji, what about Marik?" Seto said slowly, as if he was talking to a three-year-old.   
  
Ryuuji blinked, then caught on. "Oh yeah, right! But I think you don't want to know, dudes… Marik's gone off the deep end… He isn't taking as many of his girl to bed as usual. But that's normal, I guess. Most guys would have lost interest way before Marik. It's his thing with squirrels that's creepy… Just yesterday, when he was trying to talk me into going down to the casinos with him, I saw a squirrel and it sat for five whole seconds _in front _of Marik then strode away **_UNHARMED_**!"   
  
"Okay, now there's reeeaaalllyyy somethin' wrong with _that_," Joey said, eyes wide in disbelief, thinking back a few years ago, when almost the entire gang had to restrain the psychotic Spirit when a squirrel walked across the group's path. Marik had been yelling something about wanting to kill the furry little thing for stopping him from taking over the world or some other nonsense.   
  
"Yeah, I get you. But what could be bothering them so much?" Tristan rubbed his chin, emphasizing that he was thinking hard.   
  
"Must be serious, dudes, cause' Marik letting a squirrel go or specifically ignoring it is a big deal," Ryuuji agreed, leaning back and pulling Tristan to him.   
  
"Do you think hell has frozen?" Tristan said sarcastically, intertwining his fingers with Ryuuji's.   
  
"Maybe," Joey said, glancing at the silent, brooding Seto.   
  
"Dude, stop that. You sound like the world's ending," Ryuuji commented waspishly. He didn't like all the serious talk - especially if it was Tristan and Joey doing the talking. In his opinion, Tristan was a silly person - even if he was his lover - and Joey was too dumb to think of very much.   
  
"Well sorry for putting things into perspective, Ryuuji!" Tristan snapped.   
  
"Well you're freaking me out - " Ryuuji retorted.   
  
"Shut up for and listen, both of you!" The brooding CEO finally snapped. The two nodded and gave a last glare at each other before listening to what Seto has to say. The brunette advisor looked at all his companions in turn, brows furrowed in thought. When he spoke, Joey, Tristan, and Ryuuji did a double take. "Someone has to ask those _maniacs _what's the matter. Now, who's going to ask who?"   
  
Tristan and Ryuuji looked at each other. "Are you crazy!? Count us out, dude! It's like committing suicide, talking to Bakura or Marik!" Ryuuji said, edging away.   
  
"Maybe we can ask Yami," Seto suggested. They all stared at Joey, who gulped, knowing what was coming.   
  
"Why me?!" the blonde asked no one in particular, looking up at the ceiling.   
  
"You know the answer to _that_," Tristan said, crossing his arms.   
  
"Yeah but…I don't know, I-I don't know how ta ask 'im! An' besides, I don't want Silver Fang's teeth on my throat!" Joey practically pleaded, making puppy-dog eyes to boot. Tristan and Ryuuji had to look away. Seto found it so adorable that he started to pat Joey's head. The blonde quickly slapped his hand away.   
  
"Sorry, Joe-pup. For a moment there, you reminded me of Yugi."   
  
An ominous silence filled the room. Hardly anyone ever spoke _**that **_name anymore.   
  
In their silence contemplation they didn't notice the Egyptian man and woman who walked silently into the room.   
  
"May I be the one to ask the Pharaoh about his problems?" the dark-hair woman asked, making the foursome jump.   
  
Joey, Tristan, and Ryuuji half-bowed to Isis and Shadi as Seto took the former seeress' hand in his and kissed it lightly. Even though Shadi no longer possessed the Scales and Ankh, and Isis could no longer see into the future, they still commanded a lot of respect. The three yamis, though they were the ones who held all the power, were all somehow apprehensive of the two, and treated them cautiously. Isis and Shadi never abused their positions, and often helped Yami and his two co-rulers make their more difficult decisions (the ones not involving who to send to the Shadow Realm and what to wear. Hey, Seto couldn't do _all _the work, now could he?). Even though Marik_ had _murdered Isis' brother, she treated him with not the least trace of (visible) anger.   
  
"Thanks Isis. We owe you one!" Joey said happily, breathing a sigh of relief.   
  
"It was nothing and I have yet to accomplish the deed, therefore thanks are not yet necessary," Isis said in her mysterious voice.   
  
"Shall we now enter the council chamber?" Shadi motioned towards the door at the opposite end of the room. "Though it might be a while before our three 'masters' arrive". They walked up to the doorway, chatting casually but the six of them froze as the doors opened. Before them was a sight they'd never thought possible; the three yamis - the three **_INSANE, _**world dominating, torture loving, power hungry, whoremonger yamis - were sitting in the center of the room staring at each others' faces with blank eyes. There was no broken furniture; there was no smell of sex, no one was swearing - nothing but pure _silence_.   
  
"Did I say hell has frozen? I meant the_** WHOLE **_damnable universe has frozen!" Tristan said in wonder, blinking and rubbing his eyes furiously.   
  
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~`  
  
One hour ago, in the council chamber itself….  
  
"Well, look who decided to show up!" Yami said in an exasperated voice as he strode across the council room. "You two Ra-damned idiots are late."   
  
Bakura and Marik were just sauntering in, both obviously drunk as lords.   
  
"Pharaoh! Looks like you, as always, are on time," Bakura said with a smirk, flopping onto the carpeted floor in the center of the room. "Shouldn't have had too much vodka this morning…"  
  
Yami sat down in front of the former Tomb Robber and smirked. "That's your own fault, Thief. You should know better than to drink so much early in the day."   
  
"I do what I please. Besides I'm better at torturing people when I've had a good drink!" Bakura said, then smirked back. "Besides, you smell like you've been drinking a bit too." The Pharaoh just looked at the floor guiltily.   
  
Marik swept down on the two of them and pulled them into a bone-crushing hug. "So we're all drunk! Who's up for a bit of a fuck?"   
  
Yami and Bakura hastily pulled out of the large blonde's grasp.   
  
"Is that all you ever think about, you sexually-deprived psycho?!" Bakura snarled, then gripped the dagger at his hip.   
  
"Passes the time till the casinos open," the psychotic Egyptian assassin shrugged. "I don't like wasting my energy in the morning."   
  
Yami snorted. "You're missing a lot, though." He looked pointedly at Marik. "You still owe me a duel for the last time I agreed to spend the night with you."   
  
"I'll give you one, one of these days. It's about time I paid a visit to Bakura. He's a much rougher fucking partner. You're too soft and weak in bed. I'll fight you on the way back."   
  
"Count me in! I haven't had a good battle in a while," Bakura said, slamming his palm onto the floor. "Tristan can get his lazy ass moving and come along."   
  
"I'll bet Joey and Ryuuji could use a bit of exercise anyway," Yami conceded. "Alright! We can have a Duel - maybe as soon as we finish with this 'meeting'."   
  
Marik scratched his head. "What were we supposed to talk about anyway?"   
  
The silver-haired Emperor waved a hand as if to dismiss the subject. "Some stupid uprising somewhere… One of us can just go over and send the whole lot of them to the Shadow Realm."   
  
"We'll need some of those men sooner or later. I'd say we just make an example of one of their leaders and be done with it," Yami shrugged.   
  
"As long as I get to do the torturing!" Marik said wit a maniacal laugh.   
  
Bakura pulled out a small key and tossed it at the blonde. "Do it at my place. I just had a new torture chamber constructed."   
  
Yami leaned back and chuckled softly. He didn't care for torture chambers at all. He preferred just sending the unfortunate souls who crossed his path to the Shadow Realm, where they could die in agony without bothering anyone.   
  
For a while, the three just sat there smirking at each other in satisfaction. They had to admit, ever since they'd agreed to take over the world, they'd begun to get along better. There was an unspoken agreement between them that they wouldn't attack each other or fight over the Items. They'd long discovered that there was a limit to exactly how much power one of them could hold. Besides, they - strangely - became good enough friends and had learned to come to each other if they wanted anything in particular (including a good fuck).   
  
"Ya know…. I had a really weird dream a few nights back," Marik said, breaking the silence. A frown formed on his brow.   
  
Yami and Bakura looked at each other in amusement. If the stupid, psychotic Marik was frowning, it was bound to be interesting.   
  
The blonde continued. "I dreamt that the little minx was talking to me - asking me why I got rid of him."   
  
Yami's smirk faded and Bakura snarled. "Alright. What the fucking hell have you been doing with the Tauk?! Why'd you pry into my dreams?"   
  
Marik grabbed the chocolate-brown-eyed Spirit by the collar of his shirt. "I didn't do anything to you! I was - "   
  
"Talking about your own dream…" Yami said in a low voice. He looked at the two dead seriously. "I've been dreaming about _him _as well."   
  
Marik lay back down on the floor, covering his eyes. For a moment, he seemed to feel the touch of soft skin on his chest, coupled with the cold shiver given off by many golden bracelets.   
  
"Well? Is there a connection? Someone's fucking with us, that's all, right?" Bakura said, but his voice was less slurred and rough. The sound of a familiar silvery laugh seemed to fill his ears.   
  
"I… don't know," Yami said softly, images of large, innocent amethyst eyes flashing through his brain.   
  
Marik sat up, and the three of them just stared at one another in silence.   
  
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~`  
  
Back at the present…  
  
The three world rulers blinked and looked their way and the group filed into the room, murmuring their greetings. It was Yami who first spoke.   
  
"Isis, Shadi, everyone," Yami said cordially. "Finally, you're all here."   
  
"It's about**_ TIME _**you got here," Bakura half snarled, however, his voice lacked it's usual edge.   
  
Marik just grunted and nodded his head.   
  
Seto didn't have to look at his companions to know they were thinking the exact same thing: **'WHAT IN THE NAME OF ALL THE EGYPTIAN GODS IN EXISTENCE HAPPENED HERE!?' **   
  
Wordlessly they all moved to their seats - except Isis and Shadi. The two Egyptians walked towards the world leaders. The three Spirits looked at them warily, their hands going protectively to their respective Items.   
  
"Rest assured my lords," Isis said I soothing tones. "Shadi and I have no intention of taking what is yours."   
  
"I could've told you_ that,_" Marik said scathingly. "The Tauk didn't show me anything."   
  
"Why wouldn't it show you anything, baka?! You probably can't even use it properly!" Bakura snorted. Marik drew out the sharp edge of the Millennium Rod.   
  
"Say that again and I'll slit your throat!" the psycho spat out angrily, about to raise the Rod, but Yami intervened, using the Millennium Scales to block the Rod's path.   
  
"This is no time to be fighting!" the Pharaoh said coldly to the Emperor and the King.   
  
Bakura raised his hand to strike Yami. "Stay out this, meddling Pharaoh!"   
  
The three of them promptly started fighting and rolling around on the floor, yelling out curses and swear-words in Egyptian.   
  
"**_WAIT!_** You shouldn't be fighting," Isis's interfered anxiously, feeling the Shadow Magic building up in the room. "The power of the Shadow Realm is becoming strong! You will destroy the world if you continue on like this!" But her words landed on deaf ears.   
  
It was Shadi spoke next. "Will you stop if we told you we could solve your problem? Your problem… about your _hikaris_…"   
  
That was the magic word. The three yamis sprang to their feet and turned to face Shadi with agate-hard eyes.   
  
Yami and his two co-rulers exchanged a glance before all three returned their gazes to the turbaned Egyptian. The Pharaoh spoke.   
  
"Go on."   
  
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~`  
  
TBC…  
  
_Ruriko_: Cliffhanger!!!!!! I love cliffies!!!!!! (hugs Yami, Bakura, and Marik plushies)  
  
_V. Maiden_: Don't worry… We'll update soon - to end the confusion.   
  
_Ruriko_: A bit, that is… More confusion to come!!!!!!! Oh, by the way, Ryuuji will keep saying dude coz I've been totally engrossed in the English version on Cartoon Network!  
  
_V. Maiden_: That and the fact that when you write your own stories, you call him Duke Devlin.   
  
_Ryuuji_: Did you two forget I'm still here?  
  
_Ruriko_: Stop that! Oh, readers, we forgot to tell you; update days are _usually_ on **Fridays**.  
  
_R.M. & V.M._: Ja ne!  
  
P.S. _Ryuuji_: Ruriko has two new Yu-Gi-Oh fics out, dudes,  
  
**Twisted Utopia** - That Isis chick died and a year later, we all get sent back in time to Ancient Egypt - way back when Yami was Pharaoh, Bakura was a Tomb Robber, and Marik was an Assassin. The problem with that is those three don't remember anything but their 'jobs'. It's up to Yugi, Ryou, and the mini-psycho Malik to set things straight before someone steals all the Millennium Items!  
**Off Limits to Yamis** - Dudes, what happens when you leave a 5000-year-old Egyptian guy alone in the modern world? You don't want to know... Ruriko's making it a four chapter disaster fic; first three chapters for a certain yami dude each, and the last one, when you put them all together... 


	3. The Moon

03. The Moon 

_**RENAISSANCE**  
By: Virtual Maiden and Ruriko Minamino_

  
  
_Ruriko:_ Hey there! We're back and.... I'm in trouble with V. Maiden!   
  
_V. Maiden:_ because you had too many glasses of LEMONade.   
  
_Joey:_ Can I go now? (tied down to a chair)   
  
_Ruriko:_ HELL NO!!!!!   
  
_Joey:_ Lemme go already!!!! What am I doing here?!?!?! SETOOOO!!!!!   
  
_V. Maiden:_ MUHAHAHAHAHHAHAHAHAHA*cough**wheez**cough* ur our slave er MUSE =D   
  
_Ruriko:_ So, you forgive me now for what I did to the chapter?   
  
_V. Maiden:_ (to Joey) sorry cant let u go until this chappie is done (Joey makes big puppy-dog eyes, V.M. turns to R.M.) O_O -_- U_U you had tooo many chocolates  
  
_Ruriko:_ WAAAAAHHH!!! I'm sorry already!!!!!!! (sniffle)   
  
_Joey:_ If you're done whining, let me gooooo!!!!!   
  
_V. Maiden:_ cant let u go until this chappie is done  
  
_Ruriko:_ So, do you forgive me? (pleading puppy-dog eyes)  
  
_V. Maiden:_ do i have any choice?...fine as long as the *cough*lemon*cough* is minimum  
  
_Ruriko:_ (does victory dance) Yahoo! Okay, on to the reviews!!!!   
  
_Joey:_ Hey, what about me? Let me go!!!!  
  
_V. Maiden:_ um........then reviews?  
  
setokaba = R.M.: Really? They do? Well, we'll se what we can do! Thanks for telling us! VM: dont worry we'll try to fix things up  
Osiris Lee = R.M.: Oh, we do pity him... (wearing a shirt that says 'STOP SETO ABUSE!!!') And as for Joey, Tristan, and Ryuuji, you'll see what they think here. VM: we are evil...n we DO pity seto, yes hu would want to talk care of yamis! n dont worry u will see the others reaction in chapter 3^^  
AmenOsirius = R.M.: (mouth hanging open) YOu guessed right! And we were just about to ask if you sweet readers all noticed the chappie names yet! Oh, yeah, they all will be named after Tarot Cards. ^-^ V.M.: WoW O_O good guess, ya were gonna name the chapters based on the major arcarna, so if our chapter tittles has no relation what so ever with the chapter, then just look at the meanings of the cards, then you'll understand  
  
_Ruriko:_ **Note to readers = ** As AmenOsirius guessed, all chapters will be named after the Tarot Cards in the major Arkana. So, that means, there will be **_22_** chapters in total! V.M., anything to add?  
  
_V.Maiden:_ just a warning that our chappies are pretty long...so it might be some time before we update  
  
_Joey:_ Hel-loooo!!!! LET! Me! GOOOOO!  
  
_V. Maiden:_ ...sorry cant let you go until this chappie is finish,*takes out questioners*...um so joey how do you view life?  
  
_Joey:_ SHUT UP AND FINISH THE CHAPTER SO I CAN GO BACK TO SETO ALREADY!!!!!!!  
  
_V. Maiden:_ *runs n hides behind ruriko* i give up, ur turn to entertain him  
  
Ruriko: Boy, you're pissed! Okay.... here's the chapter!!!!! Don't forget, readers, **R&R**!!!!!  
  
{....} - words spoken in Egyptian  
  
Warning = **Lemon in this chapter!** You have been warned! Don't like, don't read!  
  
Disclaimer = We don't own, you don't sue, got it?.... ^-^  
  
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~`  
  
_**Chapter 3: **_The Moon  
  
"Go on," Yami said slowly, crimson eyes focused intently on the turbaned Shadi. "You think you know why we're on edge, do you?"   
  
Joey noticed that Shadi seemed taken aback by the quiet query. "It is your hikaris. You are pining for them once more," he stated with complete confidence.   
  
Bakura snorted. "What put that in your head? Miss that weakling? Fuck _**no**_!"   
  
"Why would I miss that little mink?" Marik laughed out manically, leaning in Bakura and Yami for support. "I don't need him."   
  
Yami walked up to the mystic Egyptian. "Poor misguided Shadi. Don't you get it? We don't miss our hikaris. They were light. We are darkness. There was no way we could have stayed together." His eyes held Shadi's in an unwavering gaze. It chilled Joey's very soul to hear Yami and his two cohorts say those words.   
  
_'Was everything that ever happened to them worth nothing?'_ the blonde thought, glancing at his beloved Seto. The two of them had gone through a lot of arguments before they had gotten together. Yugi, Ryou, and Malik hadn't lived to see them fall in love. Sadly, he remembered what one Yugi's last words to him had been. _'Aren't you two ever going to stop fighting, Joey? I know you love him. Why don't you tell him?' _The blonde sighed. His little friend would have been happy to see that things had worked out for the best in the end.   
  
Ryuuji and the rest cautiously walked up to the group. "You might as well give it up, turban-dude. They're not going to listen." The turbaned man sighed in defeat and beckoned Isis to speak.   
  
"My Lords," she began in a clear voice. "If indeed what you say is true, may I be permitted to delve into this mysterious predicament further? I could, perhaps, with your leave, cast a spell that would allow us to dispel this fog of absent melancholy that covers you."   
  
"Man, she's good," Tristan murmured to Joey. "If Yami and the others don't give in to her request, nothing's gonna work!"   
  
And work it did. Yami turned to his two co-rulers for a moment and placed a hand on the Millennium Puzzle. In response, Bakura and Marik lightly grasped the Ring and Rod. Something seemed to pass between the three and after a moment, they turned back to Isis and nodded simultaneously in assent.   
  
"Alright. We agree to what you propose," Yami said. "When can you start?"   
  
The dark-haired woman smiled her mysterious smile and spread out her arms. "If it pleases your Imperial Majesties, I can do the ceremony here, with Seto Kaiba and the rest of your chosen companions as judges. The initial incantation is swift, but how long it will take depends on you three."   
  
"What are you waiting for?" Bakura demanded.   
  
Marik pushed his two co-rulers forward and slung his arms about their shoulders. "C'mon already! Do it."   
  
"I will require you to face each other back to back and the rest of our companions must form a circle around you, linking hands, as I begin the chant." Isis took hold of Shadi's hand and placed him before her. "Shadi will continue as I will cast the spell."   
  
As the yamis backed up to each other and Joey and the others formed the circle around them, Shadi began to circle.   
  
Isis began her chant, her voice rising from a deep throaty sound to a high crescendo. "I call upon the Egyptian gods of old. My gods, come to our aid and find the truth behind the lies. Thot, I beseech you, come to our aid in the name of the great and all-powerful Ra!"   
  
There was no turning back now. Joey, Tristan, and Duke looked at each other uneasily. Did they really want to find out what the yamis thought of? What if it was about their three deceased friends? Could they stand to find out that the yami triumvirate didn't really care anymore? Joey cast a nervous look at Seto. The Chief Advisor was staring resolutely at Isis and Shadi. There was no hint of emotion in his eyes. Joey squeezed his hand and the CEO turned and nodded once reassuringly. "Don't worry, pup. I'm here for you."   
  
"Seto…" Joey murmured, leaning on his lover's shoulder. Would the time ever come that the brunette would follow the yamis' footsteps and do away with Joey to achieve a greater desire?   
  
Isis' chanting became more rapid and suddenly, she fell silent and Shadi took her place, his hands raised to the heavens. His words could no longer be understood for he spoke in the long-dead tongue of ancient Egypt. The only word that could be recognized was the continuously repeated 'Amun-Ra', name of the supreme god of the Egyptians.   
  
A bright white light suddenly engulfed the three Spirits and rose up just as suddenly above their heads. The three of them closed their eyes and started to pulsate themselves: Yami glowing a deep red; Bakura tinged with brightest blue; and Marik shimmering with swirls of violet and black. The white light formed itself into a huge sphere above their heads. A strange cry echoed among the rafters of the great chamber and all but the ball of light was dissolved in darkness. In the midst of the light, figures materialized and a scene unfolded...   
  
~*~ Three years ago ~*~  
  
"You're nothing but a coward, Pharaoh!" Bakura snarled, pointing an accusatory finger at Yami.   
  
They, and Marik, were standing in near-deserted park near their hikaris' school, waiting for their light halves to appear. They'd bumped into each other only a few minutes ago and already the former Pharaoh and Tomb Robber were having another argument over some petty thing and Marik was watching in amusement.   
  
"Coward? I? Hah!" Yami looked at the albino in contempt. "Who's been hiding in the Ring all these months? Not I, certainly."   
  
"That does it, Pharaoh! You're going down!"   
  
The two promptly started brawling and rolling around on the dusty ground. Bakura's eyes flashed madly and a ball of Shadow energy erupted forth from his open fist. It collided with Yami's jaw and the angry tri-colored teen lashed back with a black energy bolt of his own. All that time, Marik was watching them with interest. Suddenly, he disappeared with a pop and reappeared again holding the Millennium Rod. Jumping into the fray, he easily tapped the distracted Bakura on the back of the head. Yami froze mid-punch as he saw his opponent freeze over with glazed eyes. His reaction was fairly predictable.   
  
"Assassin, what in the name of Ra did you do that for?!" The enraged King of Games grabbed at the Rod and tapped Bakura back to normal, then pounced on the bigger Spirit.   
  
Marik just smirked. "It looked like fun, and I was bored."   
  
The former Tomb Robber blinked and snarled at Yami when he saw the Rod in the ex-Pharaoh's hands. "What the fuck was that for?!" Bakura grabbed at Yami's shirt collar and lifted the smaller Egyptian up in the air. "Dirty, cheating son of a murdering ruler! How dare you try to brainwash me!"   
  
"Shut it, Thief!" Yami retorted. "This idiot did that to you. I just stopped him!"   
  
The albino turned on the psychotic yami. "When I get through with you, you won't be able to fuck with that little hikari of yours. No one brainwashes me and lives!"   
  
But Marik was much bigger and stronger. "You can't do anything to me!" He smashed his fist right into Bakura's stomach and sent the pale Spirit crashing into a nearby tree.   
  
Yami kicked him in the chest. "That was uncalled for, you stupid ass!"   
  
"So, you wanna play with me now, Pharaoh?" Marik grabbed the Rod back and uncovered the dagger-like handle. Shadow energy crackled about his arm.   
  
"Stay out of this, meddling Pharaoh! He's mine!" Bakura had gotten up and was hurling his Chain Energy at both the Assassin and the Pharaoh.   
  
"Ungrateful mongrel!" Yami snarled, throwing the full weight of his Mind Crush at the other two.   
  
"This is getting to be a regular thing!" Marik snarled, crashing headlong into the park's jungle gym. "This is the third time this week that we've done this! This time, I'm going to hack both of you into a million pieces!"   
  
"I'd like to see you try – I will rip you limb from limb for what you just did first!" Bakura raised a fist, his hand cracking with Shadow energy. As his hand was about to collide with the sharp point of the Rod, Yami's cuffed hands stopped both of them.   
  
"Wait!" the former Pharaoh said, eyes narrowed in thought as he struggled to part the two. "You, Marik, repeat what you just said."   
  
Puzzled, the two relaxed and moved away until the three of them were forming a sort of triangle. "What? I said that I was going to hack – "   
  
Bakura snorted. "Not that, you dimwit! Before that! About this becoming a regular thing!" His eyes had a strange gleam in them as he caught on to what Yami meant.   
  
"It's true, isn't it?" Yami murmured, settling onto one of the swings. He crooked a finger and the swing began to move on its own, gently propelling him backwards and forwards. "We've been relying on our Shadow powers more than usual these past few weeks. It's almost become a habit."   
  
Bakura laughed contemptuously. "That's ridiculous, Pharaoh! You may be becoming dependent on it, but I most certainly am not!" He slumped down on the side of the sand pit and was idly making miniature sandstorms for a full ten minutes before he realized what he was doing. "Crap…"  
  
"Not dependent on it, huh?" Yami raised an eyebrow. "Look over there." He indicated Marik, who was enjoying his usual pastime: chasing squirrels.   
  
"Get back here, you Ra-damned creature! I'll get you for daring to get near me!" Marik yelled at the furry brown streak darting around the park. On impulse, he started throwing bolts of Shadow energy at it.   
  
"Hey psycho! Get over here!" Bakura called out. "We have to talk!" For good measures, he threw a pebble at the tan blonde's head.   
  
The disgruntled platinum blonde yami ambled up to them and leaned on the side of the swings. "Well?"   
  
Yami looked at them both seriously. "I think it's time we discussed this. I don't know about you two, but I feel strangely comfortable with using the Shadow powers like this." He waved a hand and the swing came to a halt.   
  
"Come to think of it… It's gotten easier to control…" Bakura said, scratching his chin.   
  
Marik shrugged. "I never noticed."   
  
Just then, the sound of laughter reached their ears. Yugi, Ryou, and Malik had arrived. The three hikaris stopped in surprise. The yamis just stared back at them, faces still somber from their interrupted conversation, though their eyes all shone with love as they gazed upon their hikaris.   
  
"G-guys… what's happened here?" Malik nudged his two friends and rubbed at his eyes in surprise, dropping his school bag.   
  
"It looks like Yami, Bakura, and Marik sitting together and having a civil conversation," Yugi replied, large eyes shining in joy, as Ryou smiled, both of them obviously happy at the development.   
  
"Well… much as I enjoyed that 'civil conversation', aibou, we have to go." Yami stood up and started to lead Yugi away, an arm protectively encircling the smaller boy's shoulders. Before he did, he leaned over to whisper something in Egyptian to his fellow Spirits when he thought Malik wasn't listening (he was the only one of the hikaris who could understand the language). {We have to meet again soon to finish our discussion. Marik, Bakura, meet me at Isis' museum this coming Friday. Yugi will be going to the movies with Joey and I think that Ryou and Malik are invited as well.}   
  
~*~*~*~  
  
The strange lights surrounding the three yamis flared out and Joey clung onto Seto fiercely, trying his best not to dissolve in tears. He was a grown man! Surely, after three years, the mere image of his deceased friends shouldn't cause him so much pain.   
  
As he returned his attention to the three unmoving yamis, the scene playing in the orb above their heads shifted.   
  
~*~*~*~   
  
"What took you two so long?" Marik asked, lounging on the front steps of the museum. "I've been waiting forever!"   
  
Bakura and Yami walked up the steps, their heads near each other in a low conversation. For the first time since they'd both gained bodies of their own, they weren't bickering and snarling. Marik himself looked a bit more alert than usual. Silently, the trio walked through the glass doors and into the museum, conversing in Egyptian in low tones. They had checked their actions with much alertness. It was very obvious to them that the powers of the Shadow Realm had become more than a little enticing and each had at least once entertained the idea of harnessing that energy.   
  
"My Pharaoh, I never expected you to be here," the mysterious voice of Isis Ishtar echoed into the hall. Yami had long ago returned the Millennium Tauk to her, but she no longer wore it, choosing instead to keep it safely hidden somewhere. Not even her brother, Malik, knew where it was hidden. "And with the Tomb Robber too." She looked at the three yamis standing side by side with something akin to surprise on her face.   
  
"Isis," Yami acknowledged her. "We decided to come here to talk. It seemed to be the most appropriate place, for everything in here reminds us of home."   
  
"But you are home, my Pharaoh," Isis disagreed, walking in stride with them. "Wherever your hikaris are to be found is the place you must call home."   
  
"Whatever, seeress," Bakura said, pausing in front of a display case. "Hey! I remember this. I stole this once – and that thing on the wall over there too." He began pointing at random items around the museum, stating when and from where he had taken it.   
  
"You remember everything, don't you?" Marik commented sourly. His own memories, by reason of his unusual rebirth, mixed with those of his hikari and filled with insanity and malice, were the foggiest of the three Spirits'.   
  
Yami had stopped at the doorway to a closed-off section. "You are expanding then, Isis?"   
  
The female Ishtar came to his side and explained. "Ah, yes. The artifacts in that chamber arrived only a few days ago and seem to be much related to Seto Kaiba's former self, the High Priest Seth. I would ask him about the items, but for the fact that he can recall very little of his past life."   
  
Yami felt a strange pull towards the room. A quick look at Bakura and Marik told him that they felt it too. "Maybe I can recognize something," the King of Games offered.   
  
"Of course! It would be most beneficial to the museum if you could possibly explain," the museum curator said gratefully. She unhooked the chain, allowed the three Spirits to enter, and then flicked on the lights. "I apologize for the state of things. The set up will not be complete for another week or so."   
  
But Yami, Bakura, and Marik were frozen in place. The only thing that had so far been arranged was a huge slab of hieroglyphics and pictographs on the back wall of the room. The picture was of the solar eclipse and a priestly figure standing above a dozen or so slaves swathed in pure white robes. A dagger in his hand was drenched in the slaves' blood. The hieroglyphics were so faded that it was almost impossible to read, but just looking at the image was enough.   
  
"Is there anything you can tell me about this?" Isis asked, laying a hand on the wall reverently.   
  
But Yami, Bakura, and Marik had already vanished from the room.   
  
~*~*~*~  
  
The sphere became blank and Joey and the rest looked at each other in confusion.   
  
"What happened? Is that it?" Seto asked.   
  
A look from Isis silenced him. "Until Shadi stops his chant, it means that there is more to come."   
  
Suddenly, Bakura's voice echoed into the air, although the Spirit himself remained unmoving. "I don't know about you two, but I know how to take control of all the Millennium Items. With or without you two, I will seize them!"   
  
Marik's voice joined his. "Heh! Count me in! This world is ripe for the taking now."   
  
"You two know the risk, do you not?" Yami's quiet voice filled the room, thought the ex-Pharaoh did not move his lips. "You two know of the sacrifice that has to be made."   
  
"What are they talking about?" Joey asked, angry at the tone of the yamis' voices echoing around. "What sacrifice?"   
  
"Pup, be quiet," Seto shushed, pulling back the blonde. "There's more."   
  
Blurry images began to swirl in the sphere and every head turned to look again.   
  
~*~*~*~  
  
It was Tuesday the next week. Yami sat in front of Bakura and Marik at a booth in a diner in the shabbier part of town, frowning down at them. "You two know of the sacrifice that has to be made," he repeated.   
  
The Tomb Robber and Assassin regarded each other uneasily. Did they really want to lose what they loved the most in exchange for power?   
  
Slowly, Marik's face settled into a grim mask. "I'm willing to make it." His voice was firm, although there was uncertainty and pain in his eyes. His eyes lighted on the Rod, which he had again taken from his hikari earlier that afternoon. He bowed his head and his silence indicated that he waited for the other two to make their decisions.   
  
Bakura looked hesitantly from the Ring on his chest, 'borrowed' from Ryou, then at Yami and Marik, then back to the Ring. He hung his head and nodded. "I'm willing to make the sacrifice as well," he said in a halfhearted voice.   
  
"You two can't be serious!" Yami said, slamming his hand down on the table.   
  
Bakura looked at him with haunted eyes. "Will you stop us, Pharaoh Yugioh? Don't tell us you're not tempted as well."   
  
The Pharaoh was at a loss for words. "I… I…" He touched the Millennium Puzzle – Yugi had lent it to him earlier – and slammed his hand on the table once again. His face was contorted in unimaginable agony – the agony of indecision. He laid his head to rest in his hands and moaned. "There will be a solar eclipse in a month's time. We have to act on the night before the sun and moon are in complete alignment."   
  
~*~*~*~  
  
Shadi's chant changed suddenly and instead of Amun-Ra, his wording was laced with reference to Ma'at.   
  
The three apparently comatose figures of Yami, Bakura, and Marik moved apart and the glows surrounding Yami and Bakura faded, while Marik's became brighter. The glowing white orb now rested over his head.   
  
~*~*~*~  
  
"Marik – AH! OH, H-HARDER! Don't stop!!!" Malik begged and screamed as his yami pounded into him relentlessly. "M-MORE! MARIIIIIIK!!!" he screamed as his dark lover bit hard into the side of his neck, drawing blood.   
  
It was a normal evening in the Ishtar household. Isis had decided to spend the night at the museum, doing last-minute checks on the new exhibit. Malik and his yami had decided to take the opportunity to have fun with each other. They were on Malik's bed, in the middle of some serious lovemaking.   
  
Suddenly, Marik slid out of his hikari and collapsed beside the smaller blonde without climaxing. "I can't do it tonight, habibi," the Assassin Spirit said in a strangely quiet voice "I don't feel like it…".  
  
Malik propped himself up on his elbows and looked incredulously at his darker, more insane and aggressive half. "Well, maybe I can persuade you…" the tan blonde purred huskily, a hand snaking down to caress his lover's manhood. He nipped playfully at Marik's nipples, taking each in turn into his mouth and sucking teasingly. The larger man suddenly pushed him away.   
  
"Stop that!" he half-snarled. "I already told you – I can't do it tonight!" His voice was thick with emotion.   
  
"You were the one who wanted this tonight in the first place and now you're saying you're not up to it?" Malik said incredulously, and turned his back on his yami to sulk.   
  
Marik sighed, snaked an arm around his hikari's slender waist, and buried his head in the smaller teen's hair. "Please, Malik, habibi, understand me… I – " He stopped himself. _'This is your last night with him, you jackass! Make it a memorable one.' _  
  
Without warning, Malik found himself pinned to the bed by his arms. Without uttering a single word, Marik roughly shoved himself into his light's entrance. He did not stop shoving and by the fifth thrust, he managed to hit his mark.   
  
"AH! M-MARIK! St-STOP TEASING M-ME!!! Harder! Fuck me HARDER!" The hikari thrust his hips up to meet Marik's bulging erection, hips grinding against his yami's to relieve himself of some of the tension.   
  
Marik thrust again, harder than ever, tearing the sinews of Malik's entrance, making blood start to flow. It was painful, but the young light was used to it. After only a moment, the pain melted away to make way for heavenly, blissful pleasure. "Harder, habibi? Do you want more?" Marik asked, teasing his hikari by pulling out slightly. The small blonde growled in protest as the appendage started to slide out of him, then, without waiting for a reply, Marik thrust into him again and reached his climax, pouring his semen into Malik.   
  
"MARIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIK!!!!!!" Malik yelled out his lovers name as he too came, his release flowing freely.   
  
Exhausted, the lovers collapsed onto the bed, side by side.   
  
"I love you, Marik…" Malik breathed, drawing Marik to him for a heated kiss.  
  
The yami entered Malik's mouth, roughly exploring his beloved's mouth, tasting him with a strange, wild urgency. If it ever seemed strange to Malik, he did not let it show, and opened his mouth wider to give Marik more. He didn't notice that even as Marik greedily explored his mouth, one of the Assassin's hands was reaching under the bed to retrieve a huge, gold-hilted dagger. Slowly, the awful weapon was raised, making its way up the side of the bed.   
  
Marik ended the kiss finally, whispering words that he believed he would never utter again. "I love you too, Malik, my dear habibi…" With that, he raised the dagger above the two of them and plunged it into Malik's chest.   
  
The hikari's eyes were wide with shock and anguish as the life drained out of his body. He watched in horror as his lover rose from the bed and stood, drawing the bloodied knife out of his body. A single tear traveled down the blonde-haired yami's face. It was the last thing Malik Ishtar ever saw. With his dying breath, he uttered a single question, in it conveying every drop of love, anger, remorse, shock, and confusion he was feeling.   
  
"Why?…"   
  
~*~*~*~  
  
Before anyone had a chance to react properly to the repetition of Malik Ishtar's death, before Isis could collapse on the floor with tears of grief, the orb sped over to Bakura, the purple glow disappearing completely from Marik and Bakura's blue one re-igniting with renewed force.   
  
~*~*~*~  
  
"Do you like this, tenchi?" Bakura asked, burying himself into the silky matter that was Ryou's hair, trailing kisses all over his hikari's scalp.   
  
"Mmmmmhhhmmm…" Ryou breathed. "Oh, Bakura…Yes… I do…" He leaned on his yami's shoulder and began to trace lazy circles on Bakura's strong chest.   
  
The two albinos were stretched out on the couch in Ryou's home, cuddling under a blanket, delighting in the aftermath of their lovemaking session. It seemed that, that night, Bakura had been in the mood for something special. Now, both were exhausted and contented with touching each other, reveling in the feeling of each other's bodies.   
  
"Kura… I wish we could stay like this forever…" Ryou said, trailing little butterfly kisses on his yami's neck and shoulder.   
  
Bakura cupped Ryou's face in his hand and traced the younger boy's jaw line. "Forever and ever…." He murmured pulling the boy's face close for a passionate kiss.   
  
Ryou noticed that there seemed to be a vast feeling – of what, Ryou couldn't exactly figure out – weighing down on the Tomb Robber's heart. There was a sadness in his eyes that Ryou could not come to understand. "Kura, you know you can tell me anything… What's wrong, my love?"   
  
"Tenchi…" Bakura breathed, shaking his head. "No, it is nothing…. Be calm, little angel."   
  
Ryou's brow furrowed deeper. "Something's bothering you. Please, tell me what's wro – "   
  
Bakura cut him off by forcing his way into Ryou's mouth. "Mmmmmhhhmmm…" he moaned, reaching deeper into Ryou's mouth and exploring each and every inch of it, claiming the boy for his own. In all the time they had been together, Ryou had never lost the two qualities that Bakura adored the most in his heart's earthly angel. Ryou remained innocent and pure of soul, for no matter how many times Bakura claimed him, there was always an untouchable innocence in the silvery-haired boy that nothing could taint. Ryou was also loving – his heart was made of gold. There was no one he could not touch in one way or another. He had melted most of the cold bitterness that Bakura had held on to for the past five millennia, slowly but surely making the rough and careless Tomb Robber learn to feel again.   
  
_'Savor every moment of this. It is your last,'_ Bakura thought over and over, trying to keep his face devoid of any emotion that could potentially alarm his beautiful light.   
  
"Oh, Kura!" Ryou breathed huskily, his arm wrapping around Bakura's neck in an effort to deepen the kiss further. "I love you…and I'm yours… forever… I want you to remember that…" They broke away and Ryou opened his glorious chocolate-brown eyes to gaze at his lover's darker ones. "Promise?"   
  
Bakura found it hard to endure that steady gaze. "I… I promise." He suddenly pulled Ryou to him in a fierce hug, as if he would never let go.   
  
But let go, he did. He stood up and wordlessly left his little hikari on the couch, carefully brushing aside strands of loose hair and wrapping him tightly in the blanket to stare at his retreating (naked) form walking up the stairs.   
  
After what seemed like half an hour, the Tomb Robber returned, wearing a pair of faded pants and a hand held behind his back. He looked like he had been crying.   
  
"What are you hiding?" Ryou asked, laughing nervously. Something was nagging at him in the back of his mind and he was alarmed to see his yami's tear-stained face. "Kura?"   
  
"Ryou… tenchi…" Bakura breathed, coming closer, tears again pouring from his eyes. "I won't ever forget my promise… I am yours in heart and soul, just as you will always be mine… I…I love you too." With that, he drew a long, sharp, gold-hilted knife from behind his back, and plunged it straight into his hikari's heart.   
  
Two crystalline tears fell from Ryou Bakura's eyes as he breathed his last. "Kura… Why?…"   
  
~*~*~*~  
  
Joey fought back the onrush of tears that threatened to overcome him. Only Seto's strong arms about his shoulders prevented him from crumpling to the ground as Isis had done. The blonde's heart not only ached for Malik and Ryou's sad fate, but dreaded what was to come next. As the sphere rushed to the Pharaoh, Joey braced himself. _'Yugi…'_   
  
~*~*~*~  
  
"Yami, look! It's almost dawn!" Yugi said excitedly, pointing at the graying sky.   
  
"Yes, aibou, I know…" Yami replied, slipping up beside his beloved and pulling him close, their bare shoulders shivering slightly as the cold morning air drifted in through the open window of Yugi's room.   
  
The two lovers had spent the night together in intimacy, exploring every inch of each other's body, touching, caressing, and experiencing bliss with every passing moment that they spent together.   
  
Yami's loving, fiery kisses and pleasure-giving thrusts had been, if possible, more passion-filled than anything little Yugi had ever experienced before from his Egyptian lover. Nothing, not even their first night together, when Yugi had surrendered his virginity to the adoring Pharaoh, compared to what had come to pass only a few hours ago.   
  
And now, after a short rest, nested in each other's arms, they had awoken to see the dawn. It was their special time of the day – the time when the blackness that was night made way and blended with the rising light that was the approach of the sun-kissed morning. It was the time that expressed exactly what being yami and hikari meant to them, the time when the purpose for which Yami had sealed himself for five thousand years was realized. He was always to be there for his beloved, to protect him, love and cherish him for all eternity. It was his duty, and it was part of who he was.   
  
_'And you're throwing it all away now. Enjoy your last moments while they last. Seal your aibou's face in your memory, forever.' _He whirled Yugi around and looked deeply into the large, trusting eyes of his beloved little hikari. He pressed a chaste kiss on his hikari's forehead.   
  
"What was that for?" Yugi laughed burying his head in Yami's shoulder, only to have Yami gently push him back. "Yami?"   
  
"Don't do that…" Yami murmured. "I want to be able to gaze at your face…. To take in every small feature and drink it in." He kissed Yugi on the cheek.   
  
"But you've seen my face thousands of times, Yami…" Yugi reminded him, a pretty, rosy-red blush tinting his fair cheeks. He bowed his head slightly and shadowed his eyes with his lightning-blot-like bangs. Yami cupped his face again.   
  
"I told you not to look away… No, I'm ordering you…." Yami said, placing kiss after kiss on his hikari's face. Yugi's Grandpa was out of town on a trip to a convention in Tokyo and they were in no danger of being disturbed.   
  
"But you haven't told me why yet!" Yugi laughed, pecking Yami lightly on the lips. "I won't stop asking you until you answer me…"  
  
Yami smiled lovingly and placed a kiss on the tip of Yugi's nose. "Because," he kissed Yugi's cheek, "I want," he placed another kiss on the younger boy's forehead, "to see," he kissed his way down Yugi's jawbone, "each and every," he nibbled on the hikari's chin, "beautiful part of your face." He ended by capturing Yugi's mouth in a passionate kiss. "And keep it in my memory forever…" he breathed, as the parted for air.   
  
"Yami…." Yugi purred out his lover's name and tiptoed to press his lips to Yami's once more. "You're the only one I'll ever love… I love you so much…."  
  
"As do I, my little Yugi…" Yami replied. "I love you." They kissed again and Yugi suddenly sensed a desperation in Yami's touch. It seemed like was trying to prolong something.   
  
Yugi shrugged off the feeling and turned again to the rising sun. "Did you hear the news, Yami? Today, there will be a solar eclipse! Can we watch it with Ryou, Malik, Joey, and the rest?"   
  
At those words, Yami stiffened and whirled Yugi around once more. He pressed his lips to his aibou's in a definitely desperate kiss, claiming Yugi's mouth with shameless abandon. He steered them back onto Yugi's bed, collapsing on top of the smaller boy. When Yugi opened his huge, amethyst eyes in wonder, he was met by the dulled gaze of Yami's crimson ones.   
  
"Yugi… aibou… No matter what comes of what I am about to do…. I will love you for all eternity…" With that, Yami pressed his lips to Yugi's again, but this time, there was a sharp pain in Yugi's chest and when Yami drew away, the young boy looked down, horrified to see a gold-hilted dagger protruding from his torso.   
  
"Y-Yami… Why?…" These were Yugi Motou's last words as his eyes were closed to the light of day.   
  
Yami collapsed on the floor beside the prone figure, and cried and wept until he could shed nothing more.   
  
~*~*~*~  
  
Shadi's chant ended and the mystic slumped down in exhaustion.   
  
Gradually, the darkness dissolved and those who formed the circle fell into their loved ones' arms, some weeping openly, the others refusing to look at the three yamis. Joey's heart couldn't take it any longer and he cried bitterly on Seto's shoulder. Tristan and Ryuuji clung to each other, heads bowed with silent tears. Shadi held Isis protectively in his arms. They had seen the deaths of persons dearly loved and their grief finally overpowered them.   
  
The yamis, having awakened from their trance, stood tall and regal, regarding the weeping figures before them.   
  
"Leave this room, all of you," Yami said in a cold, forceful voice.   
  
Slowly, the mourning assemblage drifted from the room, their silent sobs echoing up into the rafters. Yami, Bakura, and Marik looked on, their faces impassive. The heavy doors swung closed.   
  
Only then did the Spirits collapse onto the floor and cry their broken hearts out in unutterable loss.   
  
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~`  
  
TBC…  
  
_V. Maiden:_ O_O well uh...that was interesting (note to self: dont let ruriko eat too many chocolates)  
  
_Ruriko:_ Too late!!!! (munches on a Crunch bar) Mwahahahahahahahaha!!!!!   
  
_V. Maiden:_ 0_o, *runs n' hides as far away from ruriko as possible with the next chappie*  
  
_Ruriko:_ I will get you!!!!!!!!! (starts to run, then remembers stuff, like Joey and teh closing remarks) Well, gotta go now! Joey, I will call Seto to come by and free you.   
  
_V. Maiden: _*hears ruriko call setos name, then runs faster* you'll never get me alive! *runs to a wall then passes out*  
  
_Ruriko:_ BAKA! (stalks of, leaving Joey to sulk and wait for Seto)  
  
Coming soon...  
**_Chapter 4: _The Hermit**  
- for those of you who want to get an idea of what's next in store, find out the meaning of that Tarot card!  
  
^-^ 


	4. The Hermit

_**RENAISSANCE**  
By: Virtual Maiden and Ruriko Minamino_

  
  
_Ruriko:_ *tiptoing into computer room* Errr... Hello again! SOOOORY we've been gone for, like, forever!  
  
_V. Maiden:_ it does seem forever if im the one who's typing -_-;  
  
_Tristan_: *whistling, then freezes* Oops.... Wrong room... Bye!  
  
_Ruriko:_ NOT SO FAST! Yo're in the right room, Tailor. You're today's muse! (V. Maiden and Ruriko drag him in)  
  
_V. Maiden:_MUHAHAHAHAHA *cough**wheez**cough* you are now at our mercy!... well until this chappie is over at least  
  
(Ruriko & Tristan sweatdrop)  
  
_Ruriko:_ Now YOU're on sugar high!!!!!! So..... What happened? Why did you take a YEAR to pass the chapter on to me!?!  
  
_V. Maiden:_ simple answer....sugar high! my mouth can't close while im on sugar high you know that, and lots of demented ideas flow out of my demented brain O_O  
  
_Ruriko: _Um.... Okay.... So, didn't you have some questions for Tristan here?  
  
_Tristan:_What?!?!?!?!? Is this the police station or something??!?!!!   
  
_V. Maiden:_ ...*grins evilly then clears throat* ssoo, we have been debating here if your hair is real or not so is it or is it not *directs onned flash light at his face*   
  
_Tristan: _*scoots away* Stop that! It's real! See! (places V.M.'s hand on his head)  
  
_Ruriko:_ Is it real, V.M.?  
  
_V. Maiden: _...your puncturing my skin  
  
_Ruriko and Tristan:_ WHAAAAAAT??!?!!?!?!??!?!?!?!?!?!  
  
_Ruriko:_ Right... You're both freaking me out.... V.M., any more questions?  
  
_V. Maiden:_ what? *shows bleeding hand, and hiding a bottle of ketchup in the other*  
  
_Ruriko:_ V.M., enough already! Do you have any more REAL questions for Tailor here?  
  
_V. Maiden:_um *smiles mischievously* well we had gathered information about your past relationships, how do you respond to that or technically speaking who really is it  
  
_Tristan:_ Tristan: W-what relationships? I-I'm with Ryuuji!  
  
_Ruriko:_ (face darkens) Don't we ALL know that? Miho, or Serenity? PICK!  
  
_Tristan:_ Errrrr........ Just go to your reviews!!!!! (pushes girls towrds computer screen)  
  
_V. Maiden_:hey ur avoiding the question!  
  
_Tristan:_ THe first review is from Osiris Lee!!!!!!!  
  
Osiris Lee = R.M.: Don't worry, I've got teh angst all covered! But, we do need some humor in the middle.... V.M.: well ruriko thats ur calling, Ms. angst goddess, and were really glad we have achieved ur standards tnx for reviewing ^-^  
AmenOsirius = VM: um thank you ^^ i recently got interested in those black magic stuff (like the tarot cards, black zodiac etc.) um sorry but i dont know what my tarot deck is, im still searching for a second one though T_T tnx for the review, and gud luk with the immortal war (children of maat fic) it must be hard being reported. R.M.: In total agreement. V.M.'s the one into magic. I love research work though! As for Joey and Seto... Only the future can tell waht shall befall them... Thanks for reviewing! Nad, good luck on I.W.!!!!! Hope you fix it soon! I LOVEd that....  
_ Also, thanks to:_Maruken, Sakurai no Yuki, SoulDreamer, Immortal Memories, Kitty Neko, Koishii No Tenshi, Pink_Flower, setokaba, Macbeth, Yamishadowcat22, & ~Lone-Wolf~!!!!  
  
Warning = V.Maiden's twisted humor, Ruriko's sexual tendencies, regret, minor angst, and some **whore** Tea!  
  
Disclaimer = We don't own, you don't sue, got it?.... ^-^  
  
Enjoy the chapter, and please, R&R!!!!!!  
  
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~`  
  
**_Chapter 4:_ The Hermit **  
  
"But Seto…Can't they just give me a break?" Joey said in a broken voice as he buried his face in Seto's shoulder. He and his brunette lover were lying on their huge, canopied bed in their mansion in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, taking about what they'd seen at the ritual the day before. Seto was, to be certain, upset, but being who he was, he didn't allow it to show very much. But Joey… Yugi _had _after all, been the blonde's best friend. Joey's voice was still thick with emotion and he'd spent half the night awake, tears coursing down his fair face. It was already late in the morning now, and Yami had declared that a small contingent of naval and army forces be sent straightaway to the cold, northern region of Slovakia to squash the uprising there. Unfortunately for Joey, he was one of the commanders Yami had instructed to go. "I-I mean, I just saw my best friend's murder…and I-I – " Joey, overcome by his emotions, began to sob.   
  
"I know, pup," Seto agreed quietly. "Even I was unnerved by what Yami and the other two did. It was… brutal." He stroked Joey's hair and back, trying to calm down the blonde. What they had witnessed was traumatizing, but hadn't Joey had enough? It had been three years. He had to move on.   
  
**_"BROTHER, WAKE UUUUUUUP!!!" _**  
  
**_"BIG BROTHER, JOEY'S GOING TO BE LAAAAAAAAATE!!!!"_**  
  
There were two loud voices bellowing outside the door. Seto and Joey looked at each other and sighed. It was Serenity and Mokuba. The two of them lived with Seto and Joey, since the two elder siblings wouldn't even dream of letting those two live alone. Besides, Mokuba needed to be watched, if he was to be the next head of the Kaiba Corporation, and Serenity wasn't in the best of health again. Both Serenity and Mokuba had experienced walking in on their elder siblings during an 'intimate' moment and since then, they had deemed it wise to bring a megaphone along to warn the lovers that they were coming in. It was much safer, and less traumatizing that way.   
  
"Serenity, thanks a lot! Ya just ruined a moment," Joey hollered bitterly, and the only response he got was the sound of giggling from outside the doors. Seto hid a smile. It was obvious already: Joey was going to be late…again.   
  
"Well, I guess you have a ship to catch – command, I mean," Seto said with a perfectly straight face.   
  
There was more giggling at the doorway.   
  
"I'll be there in a moment!" Joey yelled, annoyed. The two lovers heard footsteps and laughter retreating, and as soon as the sounds had faded completely, Joey sighed in defeat, getting up to dress. "I'd better get going… See you in a few days, love."   
  
"Don't you dare die, okay?" Seto said in a low, teasing voice.   
  
"Hehe… Don't worry. I can't and won't," Joey promised, giving the brunette a lop-side grin.   
  
"Good." Seto nodded in approval, then, suddenly, bowed his head his and groaned.   
  
"Huh? What's wrong, Seto?" the blonde commander asked.   
  
His lover just shook his head. "Oh, nothing… I just remembered: it's another day of facing the three laziest asses in the world…"  
  
"Aw! They ain't that bad!" Joey laughed. "They're just kids in big guys' bodies!"   
  
"Hurry up or you're going to be late," came the reply. At this, Joey snickered, and Seto frowned. "What the hell is so funny?"   
  
"You sound like a mom Seto!"   
  
Seto gave the blonde his 'oh-shut-the-hell-up' glare, and Joey countered it with a 'you-know-I'm-right' pouty expression as he slipped on his shirt. The brunette surrendered and his muttered reply sounded distinctively like 'I have a little brother, you know'.   
  
"Okay, okay, _money-bags_!"   
  
If looks could kill then Joey would twenty feet under. He was feeling uncomfortable from the intense glare Seto's giving him   
  
"Erm…well, uh gottagoSetoseeyouinafewdaysimgonnamissyoubye!" Joey said it all in one breath, jamming on his pants. He then ran out of the room before Seto could get his hands on him.   
  
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~`  
  
Seto was walked along the long, marble corridors of the Chateau Frontenac in Quebec (which used to be a castle-like hotel, until the three yamis had decided it would make an ideal summer/winter getaway for the three of them) his expression bordering on open disgust as he shifted his open laptop in his arms. Tristan and Ryuuji, who were whispering sweet little love-nothings at each other from behind the tall stacks of paper they carried, accompanied him.   
  
_'Gods! Why did I ever ask them to help me bring the yamis their papers – not that anything will actually get done with these new documents…'_ Seto thought sourly, whether his feeling was directed at his rulers, or the couple a few steps behind him, no one can know. When Ryuuji started nibbling on Tristan's neck and his papers started to sway ominously, Seto decided to interrupt. "Can't you two wait till _after_ you drop off those papers before you start shagging?"   
  
"Hey, you're the one who dragged us into this carrying thing, dude." Ryuuji said irritably, although, thankfully, he stepped away from Tristan.   
  
"What are we doing this for, again?" Tristan asked, rolling his eyes. "You know, Seto, this'll just add to the pile-up in all the offices Yami, Bakura, and Malik have all over the world!"   
  
Seto snorted, totally agreeing.   
  
He had already begun to miss his pup. _'Wonder if he's at least half-way up the North Atlantic now…' _He pulled himself from his thoughts as he knocked on Yami's huge oak office doors – his first stop in the hell of laziness.   
  
The sight that greeted him was not what he had expected. In fact, it was the farthest thing from what he'd braced himself to see. He'd walked in on all three of the yamis while they were having sex with their concubines, while they were sleeping, in the middle of pig-out fests, while they were busy torturing servants, and even one time when Marik had gotten so bored that he'd started turning documents into airplanes. But this?! It was unbelievable! Yami wasn't alone. Bakura and Marik were with him. That wasn't the strange part. He knew they _had _found a way to stay in the same room and not kill each other, but as soon as Seto set eyes on them, he believed he'd died and gone to heaven. Or as least, was still in bed with Joey, dreaming.   
  
The three yamis were actually _**working**_! Pens scratched out signatures on yellowing pieces of paper and folders were shuffled, pages turned slowly as the readers frowned over the writing, which, before, had been naught but a mystery. Ensconced on three high-polished wooden chars, behind desks of leather, glasses, and marble, that shone in the sunlight from a large French window across the room, were Yami, Bakura, and Marik. An attendant stood at the side of each table, ready to send the signed documents on their way, or else to burn the unacceptable ones immediately at the huge hearth in the center of the room. At random, one yami would stand and cross the crimson-carpeted floor to the great bookshelves lining one wall, take down a book and bear it way back to the table for reference.   
  
But wait? What was this? The triumvirate looked… different. And in thinking so, Seto did not mean the serious expressions on their faces. Were these the yamis… or their hikaris? If indeed that was Yami, right there, reading a book by the shelves, then why was he in sneakers? Why was he wearing his coat, and why, for once, was his shirt loose and made of cotton, and his pants rather loose? Bakura, if Seto's eyes did not deceive him, was just sitting down at his desk… wearing a light blue sweater?! Gods! He was wearing faded jeans and somehow, he'd managed to tame his hair a bit. Only Marik looked somewhat normal. But, then again, no. Marik. Wearing white. Something was definitely wrong with that picture. The burly blonde it seemed, had exchanged his deep purple tank top with a white one, a chain dangling from the chest area. His cape too, was missing, exposing his shoulders and his hair seemed less spiky than normal.   
  
Seto blink, then blinked again, and even rubbed his eyes to make sure they were not deceiving him. He looked over at Tristan and Ryuuji; both were making very, very good imitations of goldfish. Seto pinched himself to make sure it wasn't a dream; it hurt but he pinched himself again. _'…By the gods…the three yamis actually in the office and not fighting… actually signing paperwork…and what the hell!?!?!? Did they change their wardrobes overnight?' _Disbelief was written all over Seto's features. Recovering, he cautiously made his way to Yami, who'd just returned to his desk, jolting Tristan and Ryuuji back into action. They dropped the paperwork onto the slowly diminishing pile of work to be done. Yami ignored them all, as did Bakura and Marik, as the rest o the paperwork was dropped off at their desks. The brunette Advisor had expected one, both, or all of them to burst out in protest at the added work, but nothing came. The three were suspiciously quiet…too quiet. Reluctantly, Seto shrugged off the thought._ 'It must be because of yesterday.' _Knowing the three yamis, they would never admit that inside, they were hurting, and would just ignore the obvious facts. Bottom line: their egos were just too big, and the fact that they were very stubborn didn't help either.   
  
Yami cleared his throat and quirked an eyebrow at Seto. "If there is nothing more you need, then you may leave," the Pharaoh said coldly, waving his hand dismissively before turning back to his paperwork.   
  
Stunned, Seto, Tristan, and Ryuuji backed out of the room, slowly and silently.   
  
Once they were outside Tristan and Ryuuji started to praise the gods for the miracle that had occurred…while Seto just pinched himself again.   
  
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"Why are we here, again?" Marik asked, for what seemed like the millionth time.   
  
The three yamis were sitting in a none-too-modest tearoom in Bakura's Japan palace, sipping on sake and nibbling on rice cakes, obviously bored to death. Seto had almost blown his top when, out of thin air, all three of them announced that they were – no questions asked – going to Japan for two weeks. The brunette could do nothing to stop them, and why should he? They'd finished about eighteen months of paperwork in one sitting, so he was satisfied. The three yamis hadn't been separated from each other since the ritual. None of them would admit it, but the scene of their hikari's deaths was haunting them. They avoided thinking about it, but in truth, they were really…murderers.   
  
Bakura and Yami looked at each other in exasperation and simultaneously hit the blonde psychopath on the back of the head – HARD.   
  
"Ow!!! What was that for?" the blonde cried out rubbing his skull. "That hurt!"   
  
Bakura rolled his eyes. "For being a demented psychopathic idiot. Besides, you can stand to loose a few more brain cells." How he knew what brain cells were, is still a mystery.   
  
"I'm going to visit Grandpa Motou in Domino City," Yami said, his voice dropping a bit as he said the name of the late Yugi's grandfather.   
  
"And I _live _here, remember?" Bakura added, regarding Marik with a raised eyebrow. "Why you decided to come along, I don't know."   
  
"I guess I was just bored…" Marik said. In truth, he just had a weird feeling he _should _go to Japan with Yami and Bakura.   
  
His comment went unnoticed as the silvery-haired turned back to Yami. "You what? Feel the need to repay the old man for everything he did for you and _him_? Newsflash: you erased his memories – using _my _Ring; he _doesn't _know you anymore – well, personally, that is. Damn! Everyone knows who we are!" Bakura ended with a growl.   
  
"I don't care! And you're right; I want to pay him back!" Yami said in a challenging voice. "As soon as I've rested, I'm going to go to Domino City." Bakura opened his mouth to speak, but Marik beat him to it.   
  
"Oh, just shut it Bakura! You know you can't knock sense into him no matter how hard you try. Yami, Mr. Noble, you are too kind for your own good," Marik stated, snorting into his cup.   
  
"Whatever! I'm doing what I think is right!" he spat, dropping his rice cake and stomping out of the room, the Scales bouncing at his hip. A few seconds later Bakura and Marik followed him. "Why the hell are you two following me!?"   
  
"We got nothing better to do, and I kinda miss that place." Bakura stated in matter-of-factly and Marik nodded in agreement.   
  
Yami just rolled his eyes at them, though, inside, he was satisfied. "Fine, but no random murder. We don't want to draw attention to ourselves this time!" Bakura and Marik both grinned evilly.   
  
A day later, at Domino City, Bakura and Marik hadn't killed anyone, and yet….  
  
"Stupid, Ra-damnable reporters!!!!!!!!!" Yami swore, banging the door of the Kame Game Shop closed behind him. Marik started tapping on his shoulder. "Following us around the city!"   
  
Bakura and Marik were glaring at the glass door, where a dozen or so members of their security personnel were manfully dissuading the media from following into the store (though why immortal, near-invincible yamis needed bodyguards, was a mystery). From the moment the trio had gotten off Bakura's private plane and out of the airport doors, they'd been mobbed by members of the media and assorted paparazzi. There was no place they went that they could escape!   
  
"We didn't even have to do anything, Yami," Bakura said in disgust. "These Ra-damned mortals! Don't they have anything better to do?" Marik was now tapping on his shoulder.   
  
"I know!" Yami snapped. "All I wanted was a nice trip into this little city and all of the sudden, I've got cameras stuck in my face!" Marik switched back to tapping on his shoulder.   
  
Bakura shuddered. "And the fan girls! What do those bitches think of us?! Sides of beef?!?!" Marik was shaking him.   
  
**_"WHAT THE FUCK IS THE MATTER WITH YOU?!??!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!" _**Yami and Bakura bellowed at Marik.   
  
The psycho blinked and pointed.   
  
"W-welcome to the Kame Game Shop, m-my Lords!" a kid of about 15 years old stammered. In the midst of Yami and Bakura's ranting, the boy had come out of the shop's back room and walked up to them cautiously. Marik was the only one who'd noticed him. He had unruly jet-black hair and deep green eyes, hidden behind round glasses. His eyes were wide open in surprise and his voice was weak, overcome by the sight of the three most powerful, important men in the world – standing at the doorway of his employer's shop!   
  
Bakura bent down and squinted at him. "Hey… Aren't you the kid from that book by the Rolling woman?"   
  
Marik started to poke at the boy's forehead. "You're right, Bakura. What's the name of the kid again? Harpy?"   
  
Yami smacked both of them on the back of the head. "It's _'Harry Potter'_, by J.K. _Rowling_, and look! You've got the wrong kid!" He pointed at the boy's nametag, which read 'Harold Peterson'. "Sorry about them, kid. They aren't that sober just now." Yami apologized, looking around. Yes, everything was as he remembered it from three years ago. The cluttered center of the store, the Duel Monster posters hanging from the walls, the display cases full of playing cards, everything there was familiar to Yami. After a moment, he turned back to the boy. "So, Harold, how long have you been working here?"   
  
"Th-the past thr-three years, Lord Yami," the boy said in a low voice. He was blushing to the roots of his hair. "And… I get that comment about h-how I look very often."   
  
Bakura snorted. "Hey, Yami, looks like the kid is scared of you or something!" He fixed his most menacing glare on Harold. "Heh, you shouldn't be scared of him. _I'm _the one who frightens little boys…."  
  
Harold squeaked in fright, but dared not move, lest Lord Yami banish him to the legendary World of Shadows, or Lord Bakura torture him where he stood, or worse! What if Lord Marik decided to kill him!?!   
  
"Funny little guy…." Marik commented, leaning on the counter.   
  
"Harold? Are you okay?" came a familiar voice. Yami, Bakura, and Marik stiffened. Solomon Motou had just walked into the shop. "Oh, my…." He gasped as he caught sight of the three Spirits. "To what do I owe the honor, my Lords?"   
  
"If it's okay, we'd just like to look around a bit, first," Yami said softly, Bakura and Marik nodding in agreement. He felt hurt in a way. As soon as he'd caught sight of the old man, he'd wanted to run up to him and give him a hug, but as soon as he'd seen the fearful look in Solomon's eyes, he'd tossed the idea aside. Just like everyone else in the world, Grandpa Motou stood in awe and fear of him.   
  
Finally, after making some pretense at browsing, the trio grabbed a couple of cards and other things then went to the counter to pay.   
  
"Keep the change, kid." Bakura and Marik started to walk out, but Yami lingered to speak with Harold. He avoided looking at the old Motou. "Tell your employer that Bakura, Marik, and I are inviting both of you to dinner tonight. Wear something formal. A limousine will pick you up at seven."   
  
Without another word, Yami turned his back on the startled youth and followed Bakura and Marik out into the sunlit, reporter-filled sidewalk.   
  
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~`  
  
The arcade. He hadn't been here in a while, in fact, not since the week before _that _happened.   
  
Yami blinked and shook his head. He was there to have fun, not think about the past. It was three days after he, Bakura, and Marik had met and seen Grandpa Motou for dinner. He'd kept his word about making the game shop a more popular place; he knew there was a promotional Duel Monsters game being held outside the Kame Game Shop on his orders. Mobs of people went to Solomon Motou's shop now and thanks to Yami's co-rulers, there was little competition. Normally, Yami wouldn't miss a duel, and would have been participating too, but there were other things that caught his attention… such as the arcade. He fumbled with the dark shades he was wearing, but it wasn't enough. He could tell that people were still looking at him, that everyone there _knew _that he was Lord Yami, Pharaoh of the Middle Continent, or, at the very least, knew he was someone extremely important. Trying to be invisible was made even more impossible by the fact that the press had, once again, followed him. It was during such times that he was glad for his bodyguards. _'At least they keep the nuisances away. I really don't need the extra attention right now,' _Yami thought glumly as he was given token by one of the attendants. The wide-eyed teen mumbled something about it being an honor to have Yami there, but the Pharaoh wasn't paying attention. His eyes were roaming the arcade. His eyes lighted up as he saw a familiar game. 'We used to play that…' he thought with a half-smile, touching the machine in a fond manner. _'I've missed it…' _  
  
_'Aha!'_ he spotted something near the center of the arcade and the players melted out of his way. "I didn't know this was out, yet…" he murmured, smirking. "'DDM Version 2'… Leave it to Seto and Ryuuji to come up with something like that." Even though Ryuuji worked in the Air Force, he had found time to merge his company with Seto's and almost every month coming up with new games. Yami when Duke had been talking of such games, he had been quite excited, amethyst eyes glowing as the idea was sketched out. Pushing the unwanted thoughts away, he narrowed his wine-colored orbs and inserted a coin into the slot. _'I should finish this one easily…'_  
  
Two hours and a lot – about a million of so – of tokens later, Yami _still _wasn't done. And the paparazzi still hadn't quit their posts at the door. Yami's security staff had their hands full. _'Why can't I win?! It's impossible! I'm the King of Games!!! I – '_ The screen started to blink. _'Oh… I guess I won… Wow…' _  
  
"Good job, Yami!" Yami nearly jumped at the sound of the voice. It couldn't be!   
  
Almost expecting to face a pair of wide amethyst eyes staring up at him, smiling in congratulation, Yami turned. But there was no one speaking to him…No one there…  
  
_'Aibou…'_  
  
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The library. Such a quiet place… _He_ had really liked it there.   
  
_'How can anyone find the library fun?' _Bakura wondered. Really, he wondered, there was television and the radio. Why would anyone go to such a boring place like the library? _'Heh! There're probably enough books to burn here for the next ten years!' _Bakura was pulled out of his reverie by the angry shushing of a librarian. Those Ra-damnable reporters had followed him all the way to the library and his bodyguards were arguing and trying to keep them away. The librarian wasn't too happy with the noise and tried to quiet them. Bakura smirked and weaved his way into the mazes of bookshelves. This was probably the only good thing about the library. There was little chance that people would be able to bump into him and stare. He was easier to recognize than Yami and Marik because, after all, Japan was his capital, as Egypt was Yami's and the U.S. was Marik's. He flexed his fingers. He was still tired from his activities the night before. Since Yami had bludgeoned him into helping promote the Kame Game Shop, and he was in no way good with people, he'd taken it upon himself to, ah, 'attend' to Grandpa Motou's rivals. Really, Yami had said that _they_ weren't allowed to murder anyone, but that didn't mean he couldn't have someone else do it for him, right? Or that he couldn't watch, or threaten?   
  
There was a crashing sound and from behind the shelves, Bakura saw the librarian, now wielding a broom, face tomato-red, chasing the reporters out. _'Now THAT is my kind of old lady! Atta girl! Hmm… Wonder if she'll consider taking a spot on my security staff – or teaching them a thing or two…'_  
  
Running a hand along the shelves, Bakura's fingers landed on a familiar title. _'Inferno and Paradiso'._ The silvery-haired yami blinked. _'I remember…_he_ used to read this…'_ Taking the book down and opening it to a random page, he noticed something scrawled in his unmistakable version of the hieroglyphics. He'd been scolded by _him_ for vandalizing. _'What's so interesting about this, anyway?'_ He sat down on the ground to read.   
  
An hour later, he slammed the book down in disgust. "By Set! There's nothing interesting here!" he grumbled. "A demon and angel fall in love, and in the end, the angel dies and the demon kills himself! Bah!" He held up the book to throw it away but he stopped at the sound of a voice.   
  
"Kura, don't!" Impossible! _He_ was dead! How – ?   
  
Bakura turned. There was no pale hand reaching out to stop him. There was no one there.   
  
_'Tenchi…'_  
  
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The park and the evil that is squirrels. Oh, Ra, damn them all to the pits of hell!!!! _He_ wasn't here anymore, so…  
  
_'How much energy can this accursed thing have?!?'_ Marik thought in frustration. He'd been running after a particular squirrel in the park for about an hour now and it still put up a good chase. He had been BORED to death earlier. It was morning, and he was usually asleep at that time, but he hadn't been able to sleep long. As soon as Bakura had had another one of Grandpa Motou's competitors 'silenced' he'd gone off to gamble with the man who took over for possession of everything. Old Mr. Motou didn't know it yet, but by the time the three yamis left Japan, he'd find that he owned about half of the gaming industries in the country! _'Damn! What did I do wrong today? Why are those men with cameras chasing me again?'_ He'd have sent them to the Shadow Realm already, but he didn't want to have to argue with Yami again. Ah, if his security staff couldn't manage to keep them away, he could always hire some new guards. Back to the squirrel… Where did it go?!   
  
The voices of the reporters and Marik's security staff were getting closer. Marik could now hear bits of their conversation. Good. His guards were trying to convince the paparazzi to bugger off, but what was this. "Oh… He's soooo strong! … Why does he need to exercise so much?" Marik snorted. Exercise? Couldn't they see that he was trying to rid the world of the evil that is squirrels?! Besides, he wasn't I such a good mood. Sexual deprivation did that to him and neither Bakura nor Yami were interested in fucking those days… Pulled from his thoughts, he looked just in time to stop himself from hitting a tree. An acorn landed on his head. Looking up, he saw a squirrel, grinning 'innocently' down at him. _'I'll show the world just what you are… one of these days!!!!!!!' _He started to circle the tree when he noticed some graffiti around one side. He howled with laughter. He knew who'd carved everything there…  
  
There was a crude drawing of the Pharaoh with a huge horn and forked tail, and another of the Tomb Robber with bunny ears. _'YUGI luvs YAMI'_ was carved inside one heart and _'RYOU+BAKURA 4EVER'_ in another. And, yes… There it was! In bold letters _'MY YAMI IS SEXY AS HELL'_ was etched, and below it, in hieroglyphics, Marik recognized his own words: _'DAMN RIGHT!!!' _ Marik sighed. Those had been the good old days…BONK! Another acorn landed on his head. _'That squirrel is sooooo dead!'_  
  
"Give it a rest already, Marik!" That voice…NO!!! It wasn't possible!   
  
Marik looked around. No smirking face…There was… no one…  
  
_'Habibi…' _  
  
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~`  
  
"With your IQ, sh…shouldn't you chase butt'rflies 'stead o' sh…shquirrels?" Bakura said in a slurred voice, downing another shot.   
  
Marik shrugged. "Bah! Sh…sh…shquir'ls are EVIL…" He burped loudly.   
  
"You two are definitely drunk!" Yami declared over the loud music, smirking at his two companions while he sipped on a Martini.   
  
The three of them were sitting in a private room at one of the new pleasure houses in Domino city – the rage, really, now that the yamis were ruling. Vice? No… It was PLEASURE and Ra be damned if it was called anything else! Their 'vacation' in Japan was almost over. In fact, Seto had called each one of them at least a dozen times in the last five hours to remind them that their flight to France was at noon the following day. They had, according to the CEO-slash-Royal Advisor, another 'conference meeting' at the royal palace in Fontainebleau – another excuse for getting drunk and fucking with someone – or each other, in yami-language. The palace was classy, and the yamis were privately glad that they had allowed Seto to dissuade them from turning the Eiffel Tower into their office instead. They'd achieved their goal. Earlier that day, they'd strolled into the Kame Game Shop and presented Solomon Motou with the ownership papers of nearly all the gaming industries from Domino City to Osaka and Kyoto. His game shop was now the most popular in the city, and now this? The old man had nearly fainted from shock!   
  
"Bah! You think you're sh…sho tough, Pharaoh!" Bakura said, leaning close to Yami. "Bet you can't hold your lik…liquor…." His face was just inches away from Yami's and he looked rather cross-eyed.   
  
The Pharaoh's eyes flared with an angry fire. "Oh, yeah? Tell you what. You – both of you – order _all_ my drinks for me the rest of tonight – whatever you two have! I'll show you who can't hold his liquor!"   
  
"Tha' s th' sh…shpirit, 'Ami!" Marik said, hitting a button to call a server in. "Three Red Tides… an' be fast, mind ya!"   
  
Yami gulped, trying to finish his Martini with out collapsing. In truth, he was already half-drunk himself, but he had to maintain _some _decorum. _'Shit. Big mistake, Yami…. Big mistake…'_  
  
Three hours, a dozen strong drinks, and not a few bawdy songs later, the trio was stumbling and swaying down the sidewalk of a deserted street in Domino, arms about each other's shoulders for support, Millennium Items glinting in the lamplights, 'singing' (more like inventing new notes!), rather off-key. A limo, and about three-dozen members of their combined security staff, followed unobtrusively fifty meters behind them.   
  
"You… two are… ba..bastards!!!" Yami slurred, leaning heavily on Marik for support as he tried to take another step forward. "Sh…shtupid me… Why'd I ev'r let you talk me int'a th…thish?"   
  
"Ah, quiet dow..down, Phr'oh!" Bakura said, stumbling over a crack in the pavement. "No good complainin' now…"  
  
Marik hiccupped. "Sh…shatishfying, though… ry…right?"   
  
Yami made a funny little noise between a groan and a giggle. "I… hate…both of you…."  
  
"Gl-glad ya feel that way, Phr'oh!" Bakura and Marik guffawed, leaning forward and causing all three of them to stumble into the pavement. "Th'sh'll be one hell'uva hangov'r in the morning…." He hauled himself to his feet and helped Yami up.   
  
Marik blinked owlishly and looked up, not bothering to stand. "'Ey, lookie where we a-are… The K'me G-game Shop!"   
  
Yami and Bakura turned and sure enough, they realized that they were in deed in front of Mr. Motou's shop. They were all silent for a moment, and then, Yami slid down to lean against the wall of the building. Bakura soon followed and Marik heaved himself into an Indian-style sitting position.   
  
"Every time I come by here…. I remember Yugi…" Yami said softly, the slurred quality of his voice fading. "I guess I really do miss him… At the arcade earlier, I even thought I heard his voice…"  
  
Bakura banged his head back against the wall of the building and took a small flask out of his coat. "I know what you mean, Yami… Coming here brought back a lot of memories… I went to the library, and saw a book Ryou used to read – one that I scribbled on 'fore…" He took a long swig out of the flask before handing it to Yami and Marik.   
  
"I saw something Malik wrote on a tree in the park…" Marik chimed in, gulping down some of the brew. "I saw stuff we_ all _wrote…"  
  
Yami sighed and took a long drink as the flask was passed back to him. "Were we right to do what we did? Th' only good thing about taking over the world is that we don't fight that much anymore… Heck! I'm actually starting to _like _you two morons!"   
  
"Ryou would have been glad…" Bakura muttered, running a hand through his hair. "He always said I should stop picking fights with you two… Actually, just with you, Yami."   
  
Marik drained the flask and tossed it away. "Malik _did _want to spend at least one day when we didn't start brawling in front of him… Or when he wouldn't have to pull us apart…"  
  
"Sometimes, I wish…" Yami hesitated. It was really rather a delicate topic. "I wish… we didn't have to murder them…"  
  
The door of the game shop burst open and Solomon stumbled out, clutching his head and staring at them in fright. "You… You three… I remember you all now! You're not real, living, people!" In the yamis' drunkenness, their grip on the Millennium Items had slackened. The power of the Ring was wavering on Grandpa Motou. He pointed at Yami. "You… you were my grandson's yami!" He turned to Bakura, then Marik. "And you were Ryou's! And Malik's!" The color drained out of his face completely. "You three _KILLED _them!!!"   
  
"Grandpa, wait!" Yami cried out, struggling to his feet. "Let me explain!"   
  
Solomon just backed away. "You monsters! You murdered those boys! You murdered my innocent little Yugi!"   
  
"Old man, you go to far!" Bakura snarled. "We had to! Ra, damn it all!"   
  
Something inside Yami snapped. "Stop it… Don't talk like that… YOU DON'T KNOW WHAT WE'RE GOING THROUGH! WHAT _I'M _GOING THROUGH!!!" he bellowed at Solomon. His eyes darkened as he focused his Shadow Powers. "**_Mind Crush!"_** As he uttered those words, Solomon stepped back in horror, but suddenly, his eyes rolled into the back of his head and he slumped down to the ground, unconscious. Yami was breathing heavily. "Bakura… Go on… erase his memory of tonight… and everything about Yugi and the rest again…"  
  
Marik tilted his head to the side as Bakura knelt at the old man's side. "Why not erase everything else about these past two weeks?" It seemed, Solomon's appearance had made them all stone cold sober.   
  
Yami shook his head. "No… I want to keep the promise I made. I don't want our efforts to go to waste."   
  
Bakura stood and dusted himself off. "Yami, it's done."   
  
"Good." His voice sounded flat and monotonous. The tri-color-haired Spirit started to walk in the direction of slowly approaching limousine. "Leave him where he is. Let's go."   
  
"Wait!" a voice called from behind them. Turning, the trio saw Shadi rising out of purple mists and thin air, approaching them. He knelt on one knee and addressed them. "Please, my Lords… I can end your suffering, if you will only permit me!" Before any of them could speak, he hurried to continue. "I can resurrect your hikaris…"  
  
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~`  
  
"You're late, Wheeler! It's all over…" drawled a harsh voice.   
  
Joey had rushed into the meeting chamber, hair disheveled, trying to fasten his sash on properly. He'd frozen at the doorway, seeing that everyone there, naval and army commanders alike were rising to leave.   
  
"What!?" Joey's mouth was hanging open in shock and confusion. "It-it's over? No more uprising?"   
  
The person who'd spoken, the towering, burly, blonde Bandit-now-Admiral Keith sauntered over to Joey, a smirk on his face. "Yep! All done here. Pretty quick, really… It only took a handful of _my _men to hack up those coward Slovaks! Heh! If you had finished fucking with that Kaiba of yours earlier, you would have been able to watch!"   
  
Joey growled. "I was _not _fuckin' with Seto! An' if it only took your men to do the job, what the hell are twelve of us doin' here?"   
  
Keith sneered, without warning, grabbed Joey by the front of his uniform, and lifted him up. "Watch your mouth, whore! You didn't have to come! You wouldn't even me in your position now, if those three freaks hadn't put ya here!"   
  
"Watch what _you _say, Keith!" Joey spat. "Those three 'freaks' are my friends, and I don't think they'd take it too well if they found out tha' you d'cided to pick a fight with me!"   
  
Not one of the other official in the room dared to come between them – out of respect for one and fear of the other. They glared at each other for what seemed like a year, then, Keith lowered his eyes. "Fine!" He lowered Joey back onto the ground and shoved past him, stopping only to hiss into his ear before stomping out of the room. "One of these days… I'll get my way with you whore. And by the time I'm done with you, not even those lunatics or your precious Kaiba will be able to help you!"   
  
Joey made no reply and Keith continued out of the room and down the hall without any interference.   
  
_'I meant what I said, mutt… I _will_ have my way with you… just as soon as I get rid of those asshole yamis!' _He lurched onto the street and signaled for his limousine to come up. He got in and shortly after, he arrived at a dark looking building that stank severely of vomit, dog shit and other unmentionable things. Even before he could rap on the old, rusty doorknob, the door swung open and he was enfolded in an embrace.   
  
"Hey there, handsome… Work all done?" asked a short-haired brunette in a skimpy blood-red dress that barely covered her panties. High, spiked black boots reached all the way up to her thighs and a spiked collar clung to her neck. "Miss me?"   
  
"'Course, Tea…" Keith replied, pulling the brunette to him for a rough kiss. "What do you have for me today?"   
  
"Mmmmhhhmmm… What have you got for _me?_" Tea asked, pulling Keith down onto the only couch – quite an unreliably soft model – in the room. Tea held aloft a folded sheet of paper seductively pulled out from her bosom.   
  
Keith patted his pocket and manfully swept her up into his arms, bridal-style. "How about we continue this discussion in the bedroom?"   
  
The brunette devil incarnate giggled wickedly. "Why not? This was the worst place to meet, but at least the bedroom has some rather nice 'complements' I'm eager to use with you…" She cleared her throat and spoke again. "After all, in friendship we are united, are we not?"   
  
"Well, my friendly little consort, let's go have a little of that 'uniting' in bed, huh?"   
  
Tea's answer was to nibble on his ear.   
  
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~`  
  
TBC…  
  
_V. Maiden:_ haha well were almost at the end so were gonna make this quick *points a plastic knife at tristan*  
  
_Tristan:_ *gulp* W-what now?  
  
_Ruriko:_ V.M., you're crazy......... Virtual_Maiden: no im demented *starts waving a 'SAVE THE SQUIRRELS FROM PSYCHOPATH YAMIS!' flag* so how DID you get your quote 'Hell has frozen' on our first chapter   
  
(Ruriko falls to the ground! Tristan sweatdrops)  
  
_Tristan:_ Uhhhh.... I don't know.... I've been aroung the yamis and Seto too long........  
  
_Ruriko:_ (rubbing head) Any other twisted questions?  
  
_V. Maiden:_ ok ok...tch fine, last thing we ALL want to know, how's ur relationship with Ryuuji? *whispers to ruriko* psst shall we ask him if he's good in bed?  
  
_Ruriko:_ *faints* Duuuuuke........  
  
_Tristan:_ Hey! Does she have a crush on MY boyfriend?  
  
_V. Maiden:_ hehe is it THAT obvious  
  
_Ruriko:_ *waking up* Is he? Good in bed, I mean?  
  
_Tristan:_ WHAT KIND OF QUESTION IS THAT?!??!??!! *pause* Yes..... He is.....  
  
_V. Maiden:_ O_O...didnt you ever thought of WHY ryuuji was taking so long from being our mystery muse for a...er chappie, he was entertaining someONE.. ooh wait-wait i forgot to ask you are you the senne or uke?  
  
_Tristan:_ THAT'S TOO PRIVATE!!!!!!!!!!!  
  
_Ruriko:_ *faints again, holding up a paper* (on the paper:)  
Next up.... **_Chapter 5: The Chariot_**  
BYE, from, Ruriko ^-^  
  
_V. Maiden:_ gotta go now. excuse ruriko she's just THAT crazy over Ryuuji.... *sees Tristan trying to creep out* hey get back here and be a man helpme carry her!   
  
_Seto:_ Since everyone's either gone nuts, or is busy now.... This is the end of the chapter. Get out of here already!  
  
_~End for now~_   
  
P.S. Ruriko's _**Off Limits to Yamis**_ will be updated (the last chapter!) next Friday yet, while _**Dances of Seduction**_ & _**Twisted Utopia**_ will have new chapters on the week of May 10 yet. ^-^ 


	5. The Chariot

Ruriko: (peeks into the room) Hello? Anybody there? 

VM: (pushes ruriko inside) sorry for the veryveryvery long update (sweatdrops) 

Ruriko: Umm.... Uh, we have a surprise to make up for it... (looks at door and makes up mind) Do you all wanna know what it is? 

VM:...i want to forget about it (slaps her forehead) 

Ruriko: (drags in a huge metal case that is shaking) V.M., unleash the squirrel!!!!! 

VM: umm....i'm not sure about this (she still pulls out a cardboard box that she was hiding behind her, she slowly opens it and inside is the most irressistably cute, and innocent squirrel) 

A tan, blonde, and purple streak rushes out of the metal box and chases the squirrel. 

Marik: SQUIRREL!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Must catch and kill squirrel!!!!!! 

Ruriko: (sighs) Oh, boy...... (watches and and eyes go glassy) I wanna chase it too.....(starts running) Wait up Marik! SQUIRRREEEEEL!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! 

VM: (sigh) oh well time to answer review (tooks out a lasso and caught them) 

Ruriko: (shakes head vigorously) Yeah... right..... Reviews.... I forgot..... Uh, so........ 

**_Review Responses:  
_**Osiris Lee = R.M.: Hey, I hate her, so I make her like a slut. V.M. Calls me the angst goddess, so I try to live up to my 'title'. And yeah, 'shrimplets' will be back soon. V.M.: yes we all pity grandpa, (shudders) yes, a shanky tea is scary, and sorry for the very long update we were really busy, hope you enjoy this chappie.  
setokaba = R.M.: Interesting ideas... And I agree. If the hikaris just forgive and forget, it will be hatefully redundant and ludicrous on the whole. V.M.: well your pretty close, but i agree, it'd be pretty boring and cliché if the hikari's instantly forgive the yami's  
Immortal Memories = R.M.: Just one thing to say... BINGO!!! Now, the question is, WHAT exactly will be their reactions? V.M.: well... yes they will; at first. keyword: 'at first'.  
FREAK014 = R.M.: Angst is the order of business, and will remain so for the majority of the chapters. V.M.: tnx a bunch, but i think that they had their punishments, their conscience that has tormented them for years. (R.M.: THREE years, to be exact!)  
Shinigami = R.M.: Oh, don't worry.... I will. I'm the lemon-brain in the partnership, so you can expect a lot more of those scenes. Oh, and the murder of the hikaris.... Without it, would there be any plot? V.M.: yup, it was part of the plot that there was no other way, if there was then this would be a different story. (sorry if i sounded pissed, we were repeating it for a while now). 

Ruriko: So, now that I'm mostly sane, and we've answered the reviews - (Marik cuts her off by shoving a paper in her face) What?! (steams and turns red with rage)

VM: huh what's that (looks over ruriko)

Ruriko: (tries to grab the Assassin) WHAT THE FUCK?!?!? IS THIS A JOKE?!!??!?!?!?

VM: ruriko, calm down-

Marik: Huh? I thought it was called a flame?

VM: yup, how'd know that?

Ruriko: Who cares how he found out!?!??! What the fuck?!?!? **_abc-123_** if you want to flame, flame about something NORMAL!!!! This is ridiculous..... Here's my reply: A. It's about some ancient EGYPTIAN spirits who live in JAPAN and took over the WORLD... Duh! Dimwit! We need the languages! B. VM and I agree - we need the humor. I tend to make scenes too serious, so it's a breather for the RATIONAL readers! C. Ever read a book? Geez! Caps lock means yelling! Expression isn't a crime! Stupid moronic dunder-head!

VM: down why dont ya

Ruriko: Sheesh! You'd think people with SENSE would flame... But only intellectual dummies do in this case! (sniffs) So, everyone, here's the next chapter. You all know the disclaimer and such, so we won't repeat it. R & R!!! And if you DO wanna flame, please, say something sensible! Enjoy the chapter, I suppose.

VM: pours cold water at ruriko cool down why dont ya?, anyway hope you guys enjoy this...sorry again for not updating

* * *

**_Renaissance  
_by Ruriko Minamino and Virtual Maiden**  
**_Chapter 5: _The Chariot**

****"I can bring back your hikaris."

Neither Yami nor Bakura, or Marik could believe their ears. Was this some cruel joke? But how could it be? This was Shadi they were speaking to. He never joked.

Before even a minute of silence had settled, Marik – psychotic, high-strung Marik – sprang into action.

"What do you mean, you towel-headed freak?!" The blonde Spirit lifted Shadi up by the collar and started to shake him. "Answer me! What in Ra's name do you mean?!"

Shadi was turning purple from the pressure when Bakura snapped out of his trance and placed a hand on Marik's shoulder. "That isn't working, bone-head!" A pale hand reached up and took hold of Shadi's head and squeezed it. "WHAT THE HELL DO YOU MEAN?!??!? Can't you explain better than that?!"

A bolt of black energy appeared in the sidewalk at their feet and the Tomb Robber and Assassin dropped their nearly-strangled captive. Yami was standing with his feet spread apart, one arm half-raised with swirls of Shadow energy emanating from his fingertips. "You won't get any answers that way – both of you! Let Shadi breath a moment." The Pharaoh walked purposefully over to his two glaring partners and the mystic who was struggling to compose himself, sitting on the pavement with his white robes rumpled and his turban askew. Yami held out a hand to help him stand and – "EXPLAIN YOURSELF!!!!!" Pharaoh Yugioh started cursing and swearing and gesticulating in all the languages he knew, bellowing his head off and shaking the bewildered advisor with all his might. It can be supposed that he'd been spending too much time with a certain pair of psychopaths.

Marik and Bakura backed away, their faces twitching.

"Remind me never to get him that worked up," Bakura whispered fervently to Marik. The Assassin just nodded mutely and gulped.

=========================================

Five hours later, aboard the small jet Seto had sent to fetch them, the three yamis amused themselves in silence, an occasional sigh escaping their lips.

_'I will return when you have made up your minds, my Lords…'_

Those were the words Shadi had spoken when he'd finally taken his leave of the trio. And now, hours later, the question still remained. What was their decision? Did they – could they dare to – want their hikaris back?

"Well, this is one confusing dilemma, isn't it?" Bakura finally said, tiring of the prevailing silence, putting away the knife he'd been sharpening. He turned to the Pharaoh lying on a couple of seats, staring at the ceiling. "Hey, Yami, I'm talking to you!"

"Hm?" the crimson-eyed Lord simply turned his head to Bakura and sighed. "I heard you, but I can't really answer… I don't know what to think…"

The Tomb Robber stood up and glared at his other companion, the Assassin. The blonde was doing push-ups on the floor with his eyes closed and his brow furrowed in thought. "And what do you have to say about this?"

Marik appeared not to hear, but his movements slowed, and he rolled onto his back. "I miss my habibi," he said plaintively. His eyes were wide with innocence foreign to those dark violet depths.

Yami leaned on his elbow and regarded him. "So you want Shadi to bring him back?" The tri-color-haired Spirit's eyes were keen yet haunted as he spoke.

Marik shook his head. "I don't know… I don't know what to do. Ra be damned! I don't fucking know what to do!" He slammed one of his huge fists onto the floor and the plane seemed to tremble.

The albino Spirit slumped back down onto his seat. "Isn't this just great!? What in hell do we do now?"

"We get off the plane in France and think," Yami responded. "I don't think that this is the right time for a meeting. What has been revealed to us is all that matters now."

========================================

"Things just keep getting weirder and weirder around here, don't they?" Duke commented, swinging his long legs onto a coffee table. He grabbed some nuts and popped them into his mouth.

The Dice-Master-turned-Air Force Commander was lounging about in one of the less formal rooms at the Fontainebleau with Tristan, Joey, and Seto. It was barely an hour after the so-called Eternal Triumvirate had arrived in France and they had locked themselves up in the congregation hall. Needless to mention, Seto was pissed as hell and his companions were treading lightly on the subject.

"Oy! Seto, how long do you plan to sit there like a statue?" Tristan asked, snaking an arm around Duke and pulling him close while eyeing the CEO nervously.

He received no response.

Joey waved a hand in front of his lover's face. "Will ya snap out of it, moneybags?" If that old insult didn't bring Kaiba around, nothing would.

Fortunately – or maybe unfortunately – for Joey, Kaiba snapped out of his frigid reverie. "Snap out of what, may I ask? What is there to snap out of?" He stood up and paced the floor, steam starting to rise out of his ears. "I should have known it was too good to last! It was abnormal, those three maniacs actually functioning responsibly for more than a second! Just when I think they're going to do their jobs right, they have to go off for a vacation and come back lazy asses again. Those God-forsaken sons of a bi –!" he stopped mid-rant. His brother, Mokuba, had just walked into the room.

"Uh, hi, big brother," the raven-haired teen said, shifting uncomfortably on his feet. Mokuba was no longer a child, in thought or appearance. He'd grown taller over the past three years, and his hair had been cut so that it fell just a little below his shoulders. He was a rather serious young lad with a warm smile and innocent expression. Seto had already started training him to become the next head of Kaiba Corporation, since the brunette felt he could not serve as Chief Advisor _and_ CEO of his corporation at the same time. It was time for Mokuba to make his mark in the world anyway.

"Hey there, Mokie!" Joey piped up, grinning and going over to ruffle the boy's hair. "Whatcha doin' here? I thought you were home studying with Serenity or something." He cast a sly glance to where Seto was standing with his mouth half-open and Tristan and Duke were snickering behind their hands.

"I came to visit. I ran into Marik on my way here, when I passed the main hallway," the boy explained, taking a small note out of his coat pocket. "This is for you, big brother." He handed the note to Seto, who was only beginning to regain his composure.

Glancing at the paper, Seto's ears began to steam. The paper was crushed in his fist. Duke and Tristan covered their mouths to mute their snickers.

"Uh?…. Seto? Love?" Joey spoke up hesitantly, placing a hand on his brunette lover's shoulder. He was curious about the letter, but didn't want to risk an explosion of the 'Seto Kaiba' variety. "What does the letter say?"

The CEO did not speak; instead, he thrust the paper at Duke and Tristan. "See for yourselves!" he grounded through clenched teeth.

Puzzled, Joey took the paper from Tristan and smoothed it out. Duke and Tristan peered over his shoulders. The note ran thus.

_'Seto, just sort out through the documents yourself. Don't bother us. Just give us the important ones later, okay? We're very busy right now._

_'From,_

_'Yami, Bakura, and Marik'_

The three friends gulped simultaneously. The letter was bad – very bad.

"Easy now, Seto…" Tristan said, backing away slightly, nudging Joey and Duke to follow. "It's not the end of the world…"

Joey stepped on his foot as if to say 'wrong choice of words!" The blonde chose the perfect timing. Seto exploded.

"I KNEW IT! IT WAS TOO GOOD TO LAST! TWENTY-FOUR HOURS OF **PROPER** LEADERSHIP, THEN WHEN THEY DECIDE TO GO FOR A LITTLE VISIT TO JAPAN, EVERYTHING BLOWS UP IN MY FACE!!!! DID THEY CHANGE? NOOOOO. THEY'RE THE SAME AS BEFORE – NO – WORSE! IF I WEREN'T HERE, HOW FOR FUCK'S SAKE WOULD THIS WORLD BE RUNNING? THOSE LOUSY, GOOD FOR NOTHING WHORE-MONGERING IDIOTIC SLOBS WOULD SEND THIS PLANET TO THE BRINK OF DISASTER! JUST WHEN I THOUGHT SOMETHING RIGHT WAS GOING TO GET DONE IN THIS WORLD, THEY GO AND RUIN IT ALL BY GOING BACK TO THEIR LAZY-ASS WAYS!!! THOSE GOD-FORSAKEN SONS OF A – !" It was just then, in mid-rant, that Seto realized that Mokuba was still in the room, gazing at him with huge, innocent eyes.

"Sons of a what, big brother?" the young boy asked.

For a long time, the room was silent.

Finally, the raven-headed Kaiba broke the uneasiness of the atmosphere. "It's okay, big brother. I don't need to know." Even if Mokuba was no longer a child, he still tended to use simple, somewhat babyish words.

"You weren't supposed to hear me speaking like that," Seto moaned into his hands as he bent his neck, resting his head and hands on Joey's shoulder.

Mokuba smiled brightly. "Who knows? Maybe Yami and the other two are working on a solution for the starvation in Africa."

Duke chuckled ruefully. "The day those three really think of anyone but themselves will be the day that Isis joins Mai on the ramps in Paris as a supermodel."

Tristan snickered. "Like that will ever happen!"

Seto groaned again and Joey patted his shoulders sympathetically.

========================================

Sitting around the oval conference table beyond the locked doors of the hall, Yami, Bakura, and Marik were idly tossing papers around and staring at the ceiling.

_'Would he ever forgive me if he came back? Would things go back to the way they were? No… He would hate me…. Loathe me…'_ Yami thought mournfully, causing a cyclone of dark black energy to appear in the center of the table. The decorative crystal chandelier was sucked in and destroyed, but none of the Spirits even batted an eye.

"Oy, Yami," Marik said suddenly, looking up from his scribbles. He'd been busily covering both sides of a paper with repetitions of a single word: _habibi_. "Why are we just sitting around here doing nothing?" He blinked his eyes stupidly and caused the glass on a window to shatter when he put down his pen.

Bakura tossed a wad of paper at his head. "Could you get any dumber than you already are?" He clenched his fist and the large monitor positioned on one wall of the room cracked and smashed to pieces. "We're here to think!"

"Obviously, we're not getting anything done at all, though," Yami remarked quietly. "We have barely spoken in the past hour and our Shadow Powers are unstable because of our lack of focus. Need I remind you of the accident just after we conquered this world?"

Marik and Bakura grunted. Yami was referring to the bickering they'd done as soon as they'd gained control over all seven continents. They'd argued over territories and as a result, their Shadow Energy created a gaping hole in the middle of the Atlantic Ocean. It had taken months to repair the damage, and it was before Seto had finished grieving and agreed to become their advisor (and condemned himself to hell on earth).

"We might as well retire for the night." Yami stood up and shook his head to clear his thoughts. "We can talk again in the morning. One of you, have someone come in here to clean up. This room is a wreck!"

One by one, the Triumvirate dissolved into dark energy and reappeared in their bedchambers. None were interested in calling their concubines, and so, the Fontainebleau was peaceful in mere minutes.

In Yami's room, the tri-color-haired Pharaoh was dreaming of days gone by, a serene smile on his lips.

--- 0 ---

_"I'm going to beat you this time, Yami!" Yugi declared happily, tapping his controller like there was no tomorrow. He and his ancient lover were sitting together in front of Grandpa Solomon's new television set, playing a new PlayStation game that was created by Duke's company._

_The Pharaoh smiled benignly and looked at his hikari with nothing but love in his eyes. "Are you sure you want that, aibou?" A mischievous grin flashed on Yami's face and he dropped his controller, pinning Yugi to the floor in a passionate kiss._

_The screen blinked 'DRAW'._

_Yami released Yugi, smiling in satisfaction. The light was blushing as he sat up. "That was cheating, Yami!" Yugi pouted. "You made me lose my concentration."_

_"But that made us even, my little one," Yami said, flicking the television off with a single thought. "I wasn't even paying attention to the game. How could I, when there was a beautiful little creature sitting beside me?"_

_Yugi blinked innocently and looked at the floor. His face had turned a bright shade of red. "Do you mean the cat outside the window?"_

_"Oh, no… Something much more glorious than a mere cat." When Yami wanted to, he could be a very eloquent Spirit. "I was referring to the little angel of innocence beside me… The chaste soul that caged my very being quite a time ago, after rescuing me from my millennia of imprisonment."_

_"Yami, stop it! That's an exaggeration!" Yugi's face was positively burning. Suddenly, he found himself swept off the floor and in Yami's arms. _

_"I tire of the PlayStation, my aibou…" Yami stated, and Yugi could see the familiar glassy look of lust in the Spirit's eyes. "Why don't we go upstairs and play another game, hm?" Without waiting for a reply, he transported both of them into Yugi's bedroom._

_"But what about the game? I promised Duke we'd finish it today!" Yugi protested as he was laid on the bed. He gasped as Yami leaned over him and started nibbling on his neck. "Mhhhmmhhhmmm… Yami…."_

_"I knew you'd see it my way…"_

--- 0 ---

In another room in the huge palace, the Tomb Robber Bakura was tossing in bed, a chuckle escaping his lips as he slumbered.

--- 0 ---

_"Kuraaaaaaaa!!! Stop it already!!!!" Ryou yelled as he ran around the living room, trying to get away from his suddenly playful, knife-wielding yami. He knew Bakura wouldn't hurt him – not anymore – but it was still disconcerting to have a grinning Spirit chasing you with a knife. "I still have to finish my homework!"_

_"Not a chance of that, tenchi," Bakura answered. "I know you did all the assignments you have due tomorrow. You just don't want to have some fun with me!"_

_Ryou turned at the corner of the hallway and ran up the stairs. He bolted into the shower and locked the door. "Hah! You can't follow me in now!"_

_Suddenly, there was a soft click and the bathroom door was pushed open. Ryou jerked up and pressed himself to the bathroom wall._

_"You forgot that I'm a thief, Ryou. I can pick any lock that stands in between me and what I want!" Bakura smirked as he strolled into the bathroom at a leisurely pace. He no longer held a knife. _

_"And what do you want right now, Kura?" Ryou asked softly, lowering his gaze demurely._

_The Tomb Robber grinned and leaned over his hikari. "Hmm… Don't you want to guess, tenchi?"_

_"Are you hungry? Do you want me to go cook dinner already?" Ryou suggested, tilting his head to the side._

_"No. Guess again."_

_"Do you want to go out tonight? I think some of our friends are going clubbing."_

_"Still wrong. Try again, tenchi."_

_"Do you want to take a bath? I can get the tub ready for you if you want."_

_Bakura suddenly picked Ryou up and deposited him in the bathtub. "I have something better in mind…"_

--- 0 ---

Meanwhile, in yet a third room, the psychotic Assassin, Marik, was moaning, his cock getting hard as he dreamt.

--- 0 ---

_"Well, aren't you going to finish your lunch?" Malik demanded, looking down pointedly at his darker half's remaining vegetables. The two blonde Egyptians were sitting at the dining table, where Isis had left them previously, hoping that they'd be good for once while she attended to some business._

_Marik sulked and dropped his head onto the table. "I don't like my vegetables!" he whined, sounding very much like a little child. "They're… DEVIL INCARNATES!" Marik protested._

_The hikari blinked his lavender eyes in confusion. "Huh? Tea's a slut, but she's not a vegetable!"_

_The Assassin stood up and leaned over the table to look his light in the eye. "She isn't, but vegetables are like squirrels!"_

_Malik blinked. "Wait. I thought we were talking about Tea. Why are you babbling about squirrels?" He scratched his head. His yami was definitely confusing when he wanted to be so._

_"I swear, habibi, one day, I will get rid of all devil incarnates in the world and we'll all be free and happy forever!"_

_It couldn't be helped. Malik started laughing. "You really are insane! Ra! Tea? Squirrels? And _vegetables_ too? Devil incarnates?! Marik, you've been watching cartoons again, haven't you?"_

_"I am a loyal follower of the Looney Toons!" Marik said solemnly, making Malik fall to the floor, rolling and clutching at his sides in glee. _

_"Oh, Horus! Geez!" With much difficulty, Malik managed to stand. "Just finish your vegetables so we can get out of here before Isis gets back!"_

_A sly look appeared in the psycho's eyes. He picked a carrot stick off his plate. "And do I get a prize if I finish my vegetables?" He looked Malik up and down suggestively while he chewed on the food item._

_The hikari purred seductively and ran a hand along Marik's chest. "Oh, I'll think of something…"_

--- 0 ---

Marik's eyes flew open and he looked down at his sheets. There was a fair-sized tent underneath, in the area where his crotch was supposed to be. But that wasn't what mattered at the moment. The huge blonde leaped out of bed and grabbed his cellular phone, dialing one of the two numbers he'd miraculously memorized by heart.

======================================

Up in the northern part of the world, in a room dimly lit by a few candles, the scent of sex heavy in the air, two persons were lying curled up on a bed.

"… so the Irish minister is planning to cement an agreement with the defense secretary of Germany regarding the new code on smuggling of arms that that big-headed idiot Seto Kaiba put into effect last week," Tea concluded her report, sliding off the bed and donning her magenta underwear. "How stupid can people get? Those two idiots and my darling Yami couldn't possibly come up with all those complicated rules. It's that bastard of a brunette's doing! My poor sweet darling Yami could _never _stand such painfully hard work!" It had been three years, and even after everything that had happened to her, the brunette friendship freak still believed that Yami was madly in love with her and that they were destined to be married and to live happily ever after. She reached under the bed and grabbed her rumpled tunic and pants. Once she was dressed, she looked shockingly like her old self… the kind, innocent, friendly young teenage girl she'd been three years ago. "What have you got for me?"

Keith propped up his head in his hands and looked up at his brunette 'partner'. "I got a summons from the three dunderheads this morning. They want me to come to the former Vatican City for a meeting next week. I don't believe a word of it. They never really need to talk to anyone unless they want a beer or a new whore to play with. They've got the Kaibas and those other followers of theirs to do their dirty work. It's probably that that creep of a Chief Advisor who planned the meeting – a dumb formality, if you ask me!"

"Well, are you going?" Tea asked, perching on the edge of the bed. For some reason, she chose to ignore the fact that her lover had just called Yami a dunderhead and denounced him as a whore-mongering drunkard.

The bandit-turned-general snorted. "I might as well indulge them. Wouldn't want anything to put me at a disadvantage, would I? I don't know why the yamis keep me around at all, so I won't give Kaiba any reason to report me or something."

Tea looked up at the ceiling and giggled. "I want to come."

"Why?"

The slut leaned over her lover and planted a light kiss on his lips. "Simple. Maybe I can do some damage while I'm there." She reached under the sheets and her fingers started to trace patterns on Keith's back. "Besides, I want to see the Pharaoh again… Won't he be surprised to see me?" She patted the small, elegantly-shaped silver gun on the bedside table.

Keith chuckled evilly. "Oh, yes… He definitely will." He looked up at the seemingly innocent woman before him. He knew she was the farthest thing from innocent. "They all will…"

======================================

Beep! Beep! Beep!

"Damn! Stupid phone's busy!" Marik cursed, and then dialed the second number.

It was busy as well.

"For fuck's sake! What in Ra's name are they doing right now? Ordering pizzas?" The blonde Czar threw the phone onto the floor and it instantly dissolved into a small Shadow Portal. He stormed out the door, forgetting the fact that he was only in his boxers and he had a huge erection. The Tauk gleamed on his neck and the Rod was clenched in one fist. Had the servants, cronies, and miscellaneous officials and supposed guards been in his way, they'd all have fled in terror. Such would have been the effect of his expression.

He rounded a corner and strode into the wide hallway leading to the circular antechamber of the Fontainebleau's main chamber. As soon as he walked into the oak-paneled corridor –

SMASH!

He crashed into something – or rather, some_one_.

"What in Ra's name did you do that for?!"

"Blast it, Assassin! Tomb Robber, weren't you looking where you were going?"

Yami and Bakura were sprawled underneath Marik's vast bulk, struggling to get to their feet while the tan blonde tried to piece out what had just happened.

"What are you two doing here?" the dark lavender-eyed blonde asked, rolling off his two disgruntled co-rulers.

Yami's who was wearing a dressing robe over his nightwear, stood and rubbed at his backside. "I'd ask you the same thing. I was trying to call you but your phone was busy. Bakura's was as well."

"Same story here," the Tomb Robber said, pulling up his pajama bottoms, which were threatening to fall off. He smoothed out his t-shirt and shook his head. "I had a weird dream and I made my decision."

"What dream?" Marik asked, pushing open the door to the antechamber and leading the way in. "I had a dream too, and I want to talk to you two about it."

Yami looked at the ceiling and chuckled. "If you two dreamt about your lights, I'm not surprised. It seems that we are in the same predicament." He smiled ironically and stretched out on one of the ivory divans scattered around the room, the perfect picture of a wise, benevolent ruler. "I think we should have know all along we'd come to this point."

Marik smirked and slung a hand over Bakura's shoulder, pulling him down onto the ornate couch in front of the divan. No words were necessary. Even he understood.

"It is because without them, your souls can never be whole." Shadi appeared with a pop, bowing low before coming closer. None of the yami's seemed surprised to see him at all. "I trust I have not intruded, my Lords."

"You did say you'd come as soon as we reached our decision," Yami pointed out, sitting up, his face deathly serious. "I will be frank with you, Shadi. If you cannot do as you say, I will be the one to destroy you – personally."

Bakura snarled. "Save some for me, Pharaoh. Shadi will not get off so easily if he's lying."

Marik nodded, grunting in agreement. "I want a piece of him too. It's either he delivers or dies."

The turban-headed mystic did not seem eve slightly fazed. "I can and will do it, if you so desire."

Yami looked at the fireplace, causing a great flame to blaze in the hearth, illuminating and warming the room instantly. "How long will it take, Shadi?"

"I need only wait for the next lunar eclipse."

"That's in three weeks!" Bakura exclaimed, counting with his fingers. "So close!"

Shadi nodded and Yami chuckled humorlessly. "It only stands to reason. We killed them at a solar eclipse, so it is by the lunar eclipse that they can be brought back."

"I need but one thing of you, my Lords, if I am truly to proceed." The former Keeper of the Millennium Items raised a hand in a gesture for silence.

"What is it now?" Marik asked impatiently. He glared menacingly at Shadi.

Shadi merely smiled. "Why, I wish to hear it from your lips. I wish to hear you utter the names that have not touched you lips in three years. I wish to know if you truly want what I offer to give."

Yami, Bakura, and Marik looked at each other and nodded, unconsciously straightening up where they sat. Simultaneously, they turned their heads back to Shadi.

Marik was first to speak. "I guess I've been stupid. I really thought I could live without my habibi. I was wrong." He looked into Shadi's eyes, all traces of insanity gone from his face. "Shadi, bring my Malik back. Bring my Malik back to me."

Shadi said nothing, and it was now Bakura who spoke. "I used to hurt him, back when he first unsealed me. And I gave my tenchi the ultimate wound when I took his life." The Tomb Robber's eyes were filled with conviction. "I want my Ryou. I want my Ryou back."

Silence followed, then, finally, Yami spoke. "I love my aibou even now, and the fact that he's gone and that I was the one who killed him is a perpetual knife plunged into my heart and soul." Crimson eyes glimmered with emotion. "I charge you, return my Yugi to life. Return my Yugi to me."

The former Keeper nodded, eyes steadily focused on the three tortured souls before him. He uttered the words that ultimately turned the cogs of fate once more.

"I will do as you command. I will bring your hikaris back to life."

TBC…

* * *

Ruriko: Okay, chapter five done, and I'm now calm again! So, obviously we all get what we want now! YEAH!!!! YUGI, RYOU, AND MALIK REALLY WILL BE COMING BACK!!!! Woo-hoo!!!! 

VM: isn't that all we're waiting for?

Ruriko: (smiles wickedly) YUP! And that's why our dear Psychopath is here with us tonight!

Marik: (looks up from puzzle of a dead squirrel) Who? Me?

VM: yes you (ties him to a chair)

Marik: What the fuck are you tying me up for?

Ruriko: (smiles sweetly) Why, we need to interview you of course...So, yami no Malik, do you really want your hikari back?

VM: (gets a flash light and points it at him)

Marik: Of course I want him back!!!!!!!! Now let me go!!! (goes red and eyes get misty) I... miss him...

Ruriko: (sobbing and dabbing at eyes with tissue) So sweet..... I.... I'm touched.... I promise... We will bring him back!

VM: (nods head) we promised we will right?

Ruriko: (blows nose and looks at computer screen) So... here is what to expect next.....

**_Chapter 6: ?  
_**_The yamis have made their decision, and Shadi said he'd do as commanded. What will their friends say when they find out? What will the media report? Just who are (as the media asks) 'the Lights of the Eternal Triumvirate'? And above all... What will Keith and Tea do with the new information? Find out in the next chapter!_

VM: Yup, we'll try and update faster (sweatdrop) anyway, review please!

P.S.  
Ruriko: Right.... Since This is the first time I'm going to be back in a while, I might as well give ya'll the low-down on my solo fics...  
_- Seeing Eye to Eye _May take a while, since I'm in debate about what I'm doing to Joey now... It's stored in a disk, but I won't touch it or edit it for a while - let alone post. Sorry for the inconvenience! If you have any suggestions, please, don't hesitate to let me know.  
_- Dances of Seduction _will probably have a new chapter soon. I have a LOT of stories from friends again.... And I miss my Pharaoh! (pouts and sighs)  
_- Twisted Utopia_ will be the alternate to DOS. I mean, if I DON'T update DOS soon, it will be because I'll update TU, okay?

Oh, and frrm now on, we won't call the yamis 'World Rulers'. We'll use 'Eternal Triumvirate' instead. And Ryuuji Otogi will be called by his English-dub name instead: Duke Devlin.


	6. The Fool

VM: after ten years… we won't apologize anymore coz you already know why.

Ruriko: Of course they don't know why yet! (slaps VM on the back of the head)

VM: they don't need to know…. Too many to mention.

Ruriko: You HAVE to explain!

VM: Well… A. Busy, we're graduating high school soon, B. Ruriko ran out of 'inspiration –coughlovetroublecough- (avoids a slap on the head), C. I've been addicted to other series.

Ruriko: Not what I'd say, but…. I guess that sums it up. Uh, who's tonight's guest?

VM: who's the sadistic half? It's our raw-meat-loving Bakura!

Bakura (appearing in the center of the room): Damn straight! Though I don't see why I have to Ra-Damn be here!

VM: Aw, don't you want to be our guest muse?

Bakura: Hell, no! I was blackmailed into being here!

Ruriko: (cackling evilly) I knew those pictures of you at that party would come in handy someday!

VM: (restraining Bakura) I'm gonna tell Ryou – oh wait he's still dead

(VM and Ruriko run away from the sadistic yami and hide in a janitor's closet with Ruriko's laptop)

Ruriko: You shouldn't have said that! (knocks VM on the head with mop)

VM: I couldn't resist! he owes me bigtime anyway, its his fault for stealing my sanity? Because if him, im listening to the Black Eye Peas 'my humps'!

Ruriko: (sweatdrop) I'm gonna ignore that. Uh, on with the story…. Before Bakura finds us!

* * *

**_Renaissance  
_by Ruriko L. Minamino and Virtual Maiden  
****_Chapter 6:_ The Fool**

Just outside the Belvedere Palace in Austria, four people were running as fast as their legs could take them up the aged stone staircase to get away from the evil entity that is better known as the media. They bolted into the huge entrance hall, they're cheeks flushed red, gasping for breath.

"Seto! C'mon close the god-damned door!" Tristan yelped as he pulled Ryuuji a glaring inside.

"Hey! Why the hell did you pulled me in here!" Ryuuji said sulkily.

"Hel-LO in case you didn't notice, we were about to be eaten alive by those cameras!" Tristan said while pointing shakily at the doors..

While behind a column, Seto was barking out orders on his cell phone. "I don't care what it takes. Just get those reporters out of our hair!"

Joey, on the other hand, was trying to regain his breath as he slumped beside the door. After a few moments, he finally spoke up. "What the hell brought tha' on!" he gasped out.

Ryuuji stalked over to him and slapped him hard on the head. "YEOW!" Joey glared at the raven-haired air force commander.

"Don't you ever read the news!"

"Why would I! Did anyone impose a new rule I should know about?" Joey blinked his eyes in confusion while tapping his index finger on the side of his face pretending to think.

Seto grumbled in response, clicking his tongue in disapproval. "He wouldn't even look at the paper until I shoved it in his face," Seto snorted "And he doesn't really read anything _but_ the comics" he added teasingly, smirking slightly.

"I know the feeling," Ryuuji suddenly piped up, raising an eyebrow at Tristan's direction.

The brunet blushed sheepishly.

Joey pouted then sniffled "Why'd y'all just hafta pick on me?"

Ignoring the comment, the other three turned back at the problem at hand, mainly the door that was about to collapse. Thinking quickly, they hurried down the hall and up the grand staircase with some members of their collective personal guards trailing behind them.

"Well isn't anyone going to explain what's going on?" Joey asked, blinking his eyes at his companions.

Seto, Ryuuji and Tristan looked at each other and sighed. Joey really was clueless.

It all began a few days ago. Apparently the yamis had been talking about something when a servant had overheard them discussing something about bringing their hikari's to life, but the servant had heard wrong, he thought they'd said 'light' and somehow the story leaked into the media. Now four days later, having received no comment from the Eternal Triumvirate, the media resorted to plaguing the four companions. The worst part was they really didn't know what was going on in the yamis' minds. (Did anyone really know what they were thinking?)

At the end of the hall were they were now walking through, there was a big set of mahogany doors. They barged right on in.

The Eternal Triumvirate was sitting at the conference table. Their expressions were priceless; they looked like children being caught stealing a cookie from a cookie jar. Actually, Marik really _was_ holding a cookie jar in one hand. Yami blinked and a blissful smile appeared on his face.

"We weren't expecting you, please do sit down," Yami said, gesturing toward the empty seats at the table.

Bakura and Marik just smiled serenely and mimicked Yami's gesture.

'_My God! Is the world about the end!'_ Tristan thought, rubbing at his eyes furiously, while Joey and Ryuuji stood frozen in place.

Seto moved towards the chairs, seemingly breaking the spell. "Well, you three seems to be in a good mood this morning. Care to explain?" Seto asked, quickly blending in with the strangely harmonious mood in the room, but his soldierly companions were still speechless.

Marik looked at them and smiled softly. "We've made the best decision in all of the five millennia of our existence."

Ryuuji laughed aloud. "This is too weird, who are you and what have you done with the real yamis?"

Bakura just tilted his head to the side, and a gentle smile graced his feature. "Whatever do you mean?"

Wordlessly, Joey leaned over Yami until they were nose to nose; the Pharaoh was still smiling benignly. He pulled back immediately and tugged as Seto's sleeve then whispered. "Quick call 911! Call the police! Call anyone!"

"Joey, please sit down already," Bakura said politely.

"I'll have some refreshments brought up," Yami said getting up and walking to the door. Even Seto's rationality was challenged when he saw Yami talking companionably with a servant about having tea brought up.

When Yami returned to the table, silence reigned. After about ten minutes of this phenomenon, Seto cleared his throat again to speak.

"As interesting as it is, I don't think that I – that we – can wait any longer," he said seriously, looking at each of the yami's in turn. "What's going on?"

Yami smiled again and looked at the window. "As you know, the three of us," he gestured at Bakura, Marik, and himself, "paid a visit to Domino City a few days ago. We had a chance to look back on the past three years and realized the one horrible mistake we made."

'_They've made only one!' _Tristan thought, holding back an amused smile. '_I lost count after the first two months.'_

"Which was?" Seto pressed, leaning forward in his seat just a bit.

"Our hikaris, of course," Marik said, his tone triumphant, though, the reason for the tone was unfathomable. "We killed them, but we were wrong, and now we're going to set things right."

Seto raised an eyebrow. Tristan happened to be looking at him so intently that he noticed the way his body had tensed up in anticipation of a possible disaster. "And what have you decided to do?"

Yami sighed and frowned lightly. "You don't think we're serious, do you?"

Seto shook his head slowly. "I'll be honest with you: I find it quite hard to believe. What brought on this change of heart?"

Bakura stood up and slammed his fists on the table. The lights flickered on and off. "You just don't get it – all of you!" he thundered, glaring at the four bewildered mortals. "You can't even _begin_ to comprehend what we feel. You can't know the pain we've suffered these past years! We've done our bests to forget, to build fantasies to cover up our suffering, to put an end to our grief. The loss of our hikaris has been more than we can bear!" His body actually shook as he spoke. "The loss of my Ryou has been the only real thing driving me on. You can't know the pain of losing the one person you love with all your heart – losing that person at your own hands! Ryou is my _other half!_ Can't you see what we've done – what I've done? CAN'T YOU UNDERSTAND?"

"If Ryou was so important to ya, then why'd ya kill him?" Joey yelled suddenly, his face red with rage. Bakura was unable to answer and so he wheeled to look at Marik. "Why did ya kill Malik if ya cared for him so much?" He turned his burning gaze to Yami. "Why did ya kill Yugi if ya loved 'im? Why? Why? God damn it! Answer me!"

"Habibi…" Marik moaned, gripping the table so tight that he broke off a chunk of the hard wood. He stood, towering over Joey, his entire body shaking with barely repressed emotion. "You don't know – you can never know the temptation – the seduction – of the Shadow Powers. We have existed since before the very idea of your being came into the minds of the gods! And yet, **_we_** were unable to resist the lure. I loved Malik with all my heart – Horus be my witness! When I plunged that knife into his heart, I might as well have plunged it into mine! Many nights I have tortured myself over the thought my crime. You know nothing of what I feel – what Yami and Bakura feel for their lights! YOU HAVE NO RIGHT TO ACCUSE US!"

Yami gripped Marik's shoulder tightly to calm him as he, too, got to his feet. "We are immortal, Joey Wheeler. For us, time can only go on and on. We can never change. The earth shall continue to change, but never shall we. We have no final judgment that awaits us. We _are_ judgment unto _ourselves_. No mortal man can harm us. No demons can truly plague us. And no solace we can ever find for what we've done. If that is not enough reason for us – for me to bring my hikari back, for me to yearn for Yugi's touch once more – for Marik and Bakura to feel that same way – then I charge you to tell me what else is there. We are but goalless, incomplete souls walking this earth without them. If you do not will that they be returned to us, what would you have us do then? TELL US!"

Tristan took a sharp intake of breath. Before him stood three beings for whom he felt the deepest of awe. These were not Yami, Bakura, and Marik, three devilish ancient Spirits. These were not the King of Games, the Thief, and the Assassin. These were not the Pharaoh, the Emperor, and the Czar. No. Before him stood the Eternal Triumvirate, bathed in the light of the sun, everything they stood for – the infinite pain, suffering, and love – in their full glory.

Tristan would never forget this sight for as long as he lived.

000000000000000000000000000000000000000

A week later, Joey was standing at the Game Ring of Rome – formerly known as the Roman Coliseum, before Yami decided that he hated the name and had it changed.

There was a duel going on in the arena and Joey was staring at the competitors. His thoughts were elsewhere.

He was Joey Wheeler, one of the seven Naval Commanders of the Eternal Land (the name the yamis always called the world by), favored by all three members of the Eternal Triumvirate, powerful, rich, bearing on his uniformed chest more honors than he could count. Yet, somehow, his nineteen-year-old self couldn't find himself equal to everything he had achieved.

Three years ago, he'd just been an average high school student in Domino City, Japan.

He sighed and his thoughts wandered still farther back, to that fateful day when his whole world had so irrevocably changed…

-0-

_Joey was strolling around with Tristan late in the night after a trip from the arcade, the two of them happily bashing Kaiba and Otogi along the way (the blond was only pretending, since he really had the world's biggest crush on the CEO), when they saw the most peculiar sight. Isis was running down the streets, heading right at them._

"_Hey Isis slow down, what's the rush?" Tristan called out while trying to keep a straight face, how often did you see the eldest of the Ishtar's running down the streets without even an inch of decorum. When she got closer, Joey grabbed at her arm playfully but she snatched it back and tried to get away from them._

"_Let me pass, I have to get home!"_

"_Jeez Isis, I don't think Malik and his yami had time to destroy the house," Joey drawled. "They've probably been busy screwin' each other senseless."_

_Isis just looked at him gravely and tried to push pass them. "You wouldn't understand."_

_Joey and Tristan looked at each other, she was really freaking them out._

"_What's gotten into you?" Joey asked her accusingly._

"_You don't understand! If I don't go home now there might just be no more Malik," Isis' eyes were glistening with unshed tears and her voice was half hysterical._

_Joey grabbed hold of her again. "Would ya stop for jus' a sec?"_

"_Tell us what's going on, we might be able to help."_

"_Just follow me and see," she said grimly. "But I pray to the god's that I'm wrong." She whispered into the air but Joey caught her words and his fear and trepidation increased._

_Minutes later, Isis was shakily unlocking the front door of her house while Joey and Tristan hovered nervously behind her. Beckoning them to follow, she ascended the stairs. She padded down the hallway until she came to a door practically covered in posters and warning signs full of colorful swear words. She paused and Joey noticed that her hand was trembling. A moment later, she seemed to steel herself and pushed the door open._

"_Holy shit!" Tristan and Joey exclaimed as Isis collapsed in the doorway. The blood drained from their faces when they dashed into the room._

_Lying on his side by the foot of the bed, completely naked, was Malik. His platinum blond hair half-covered his face and his arms and legs hung limply at odd angles. The pillows and bed sheets were half off the bed, covering only his toes. There was a gruesome wound in the center of his chest, and the skin around it was covered in the dried blood. Joey cautiously entered the room and knelt by his friend's body, praying that he was only wounded and unconscious. The naked boy's body was still slightly warm when Joey laid a hand on his wrist. There was no pulse. Malik's lips were still reddish, and his penis hadn't stiffened quite yet. Joey felt like he wanted to puke. From behind him, it sounded like Tristan had beaten him to the idea. The blond duelist held a hand to his mouth as he stepped away. All signs pointed to it. There was no denying it. Malik Ishtar had been dead for at least two hours._

"_No… My brother…" Isis choked out, trying her best to rouse herself off the floor. She seemed to be in her own world, trying to shut out the harsh reality of the situation._

"_Who did this?" Joey's voice was weak as he coughed out the question._

"_One of the yamis, that's who."_

_The three who discovered the scene of the crime turned to face the speaker. Ryuuji Otogi stood in the doorway, his face pale and grim._

"_Otogi!" Tristan snarled and strode over to the door. "You! What are you doing here and what are you talking about?"_

"_You three left the front door wide open and I came in," the dice master snapped. "I need to speak to Isis, but my suspicion was just confirmed."_

"_What do you mean, Ryuuji?" Joey asked as he assisted Isis to her feet._

"_I just came from the Bakura residence," Ryuuji replied, his voice sounding dead. "Ryou's dead. The police are there right now, investigating. One of the neighbors saw the Tomb Robber run out of the house. He was holding a bloody knife."_

_At this, Isis seemed to snap out of it. "It wasn't the Tomb Robber who did this. It was the Assassin who killed my brother." The raven-haired woman closed her eyes, trying to stop the flow of tears. "I didn't believe he really would do it, but it appears that my imperfect judgment cost my brother his life."_

"_Care to explain?" Ryuuji asked, walking up to the bed and grabbing the pristine white sheets. He gingerly draped the fabric over the hikari's body._

"_I should have anticipated this," Isis continued as if no one had spoken. "That day when my brother's dark half walked into the museum with the Thief and the Pharaoh, I should not have brought them to that room. No. I should never have decided to open the new wing."_

"_Isis, please!" Joey practically begged. He had a sickening suspicion about what the former Seeress meant. "What's goin' on here! Malik's been murdered and Ryou's dead too. Ya gotta tell us what's happening!"_

"_It is too… complicated to explain," the Ishtar female said in her soft, mystic's voice. "I will tell you only this for now: your best friend will suffer the same fate – if he has not been slain already."_

- 0 -

Joey balled his hands into fists and dug his nails deep into the skin. He didn't want to remember what had happened next just then. The blond sighed and turned his eyes away from the game.

If the yamis were really going to resurrect their lights, then Joey knew that for certain, he would support them all the way.

000000000000000000000000000000000000

Seto Kaiba hadn't been to the offices of the Kaiba Corporation in ages. He just finished 'visiting' some of his old managers and supervisors, something he'd been neglecting for three months now. He'd been busy tending to world affairs (and the personal problems of the yamis). He was now in his original headquarters in Domino City, Japan. With only a day to go before the resurrection of the hikaris, he decided that he should get some work done. He was excited, in his own way, that he would be seeing his old friends again, but business had to be taken care of first.

'Mokuba hasn't been doing anything. If he weren't my brother I'd be very disappointed in him right now.' Seto shook his head and smiled slightly as he opened his laptop on his desk. 'But what can be expected; he's only 15.'

Seto then sat down and started to work. It was only five hours later that he realized how similar his situation looked to the way things had been on that fateful day…

- 0 -

_Seto had spent the entire night working at his office in the main the Kaiba Corps building. He was tired, but he wanted to get all the paperwork done before his incompetent excuses for subordinates laid more documents on his desk. His fountain pen had just run out of ink and he was just reaching for a new one in his drawer when the door suddenly burst open. Seto's eyes snapped in the direction of the sound._

_Just in the doorway were three figures he wouldn't normally have expected to see. Yami no Yugi stood in between Yami Bakura and Yami Marik. That in itself would have been shocking enough, but there was more. Their eyes – those sharp, angular eyes usually full of cunning and deceit – were clouded, grim, icy._

_"To what do I owe the visit?" the CEO said at length. "You three do realize it's the before dawn, do you not? Have you forgotten the way home?"_

_None of the Spirits spoke. They merely stood in the doorway, looking right back at him. Seto was becoming unnerved and it was a struggle to keep up his cool façade. Looking at them closely, he realized there were flecks of blood on their tightly fisted hands and that Bakura held a cloth wrapped bundle in one hand, one that was stained while red matter that looked suspiciously like fast-drying blood. Their eyes looked strangely bloodshot, as if they'd been crying._

_At length, Yami spoke._

_"We need to use the new dueling hall at Kaiba Land," the wine-eyed Spirit intoned in a hollow voice. "At high noon."_

_Seto knit his fingers together and rested his head on them, his elbows propped up on the desk. "And why would I let you use it?"_

_Bakura stepped forward and his eyes seemed to darken. "Because we want you to."_

_"It is our will," Marik deadpanned. "And you will follow if you wish to live."_

_Before Seto could reply, before he could even move out of his seat, he was encased in light and when he was able to see again, he was standing on the roof of the building._

_"Call for one of your helicopters." Bakura said coldly._

_Seto suppressed a shudder and did just that._

_Moments later, he was sitting in front of the three yamis in his helicopter which was headed for Kaiba Land. They spoke but little and Seto did not know what to make of it. Fifteen minutes later, he was leading the three Spirits through the dimly lit hallways of the dueling center, towards the new hall. Upon they're arrival, he again attempted to initiate conversation._

_"Why do you need this hall?" Seto inquired, raising an eyebrow as the three yamis walked to the center of the arena._

_"The skylight," Yami said shortly. The former Pharaoh waved a hand, as if to dismiss Seto from his sight._

_The CEO thought it best to do as he was told – for now. He had a nagging feeling that the three Spirits weren't as they usually were. He silently left the hall and locked himself up in the small office just a floor above the dueling hall. He flipped on a television set and looked at the live feed from the surveillance camera where the yamis were. All he had to do now was keep busy until noon._

_Time seemed to fly and soon Seto was ordering brunch, still inside the small office. He was in the middle of checking some accounting files when his eyes wandered over to the television screen. His eyes widened and he raced out of the room. Back to the hall, the young businessman went, glancing at the clock on the wall. The moon had appeared in front of the sun and had almost completely covered it. Whatever the yamis were planning, they were about to put it into action, if the state of the flooring was anything to go by._

_The air sizzled with ancient magic. Symbols were drawn on the ground, in something that looked suspiciously like human blood. The spirits walked backwards until they were at the edges of the arena, forming a triangle within the circle of inscriptions. Energy crackled around their bodies._

_Seto stepped closer and noticed that the lines were composed of hieroglyphics, writing filled with so much energy that it burned his eyes to look. Seto did not understand the chants but the yamis' uttered three names that were the key to his complete understanding of what had come to pass._

_Seto knew then why the yamis had come to him that day, why their hands were flecked with blood, why their eyes were bloodshot with their tears: their hikaris were dead; Yugi Motou, Ryou Bakura and Malik Ishtar were dead._

_Seto, his face pale, watched as the three yamis took small bottles filled with red liquid from within their clothing. Bakura unwrapped his cloth-covered package and Seto caught sight of three bloody gold-hilted daggers, two of which flew through the air to Yami and Marik's hands. With these, they pierce the flesh of their chests, the flesh over their hearts. Yami cried out in the thick Arabic tongue and light flashed in Seto's mind. He could now understand every word._

_"Receive our sacrifice, my brethren, my parents,  
__Ye gods of the great and glorious land!  
__Take from us this offering,  
__This blood, in exchange for the one Great Gift.  
__The powers, the coils of everlastingness,  
__Give them unto us, who have severed our ties,  
__Give them to us, who have committed the act.  
__Bind us evermore to this earth in blood.  
__Receive from us this part of our souls!"_

_Yami's chant ended just as the moon and sun aligned completely. The ground shook and the sky turned pitch black. Then, everything was wrapped in bright white light._

_When Seto finally could see again, the symbols on the ground were gone. The moon was moving out of alignment with the sun. And the three yamis were standing, blood-free and calm in the center of the room. They were unchanged, save for their eyes. Crimson, mahogany, and plum mixed ominously with thick black swirls. Their mouths were twisted into terrible smiles._

_Seto could not help but sense the evil that was to come._

-0-

That had been three years ago, alright. What the yamis had planned had been terrible to contemplate. Seto was thankful, though, that it had not been as bad as it had at first seemed. Even to this day, he thanked the departed spirits of Yugi, Ryou, and Malik for 'domesticating' the yamis.

They were, by nature, three young men born in one of the most ancient kingdoms of the world. They had been raised in a sort of barbaric elegance and their cruel tastes had been refined knife-sharp. But then, they had become spirits sealed away for five millennia, and most of what they had known had been swept from their memories. When they had come under the care of the three young hikaris, their ways became… modern.

_'They did try – and succeed – to take over the world,'_ Seto mused, leaning back in his chair and gazing out at the quiet evening sky. 'But they're a far cry from the threat they would have been if they were the same as they were in the past.'

Games. Clubbing. Casinos. Drinking. Sex. That was all the yamis seemed to care about. What they were now, what they had become, really, was a trio of rebellious teenagers. As evil and troublesome as that made Seto's life, it was a small price to pay for the lack of true chaos.

Now, it looked like Yami, Bakura, and Marik were actually growing up. Or maybe it was just more proof that true love actually existed. Seto knew it was sappy of him to think like that, but all he needed was to look into Joey's smiling honey eyes to remember.

Seto's cellular phone buzzed and lighted up: Joey's name flashed on screen._ 'Trying to check up on me, pup?'_ Seto thought with a chuckle, reaching out for his phone.

The digital clock on the desk beeped midnight.

_'Less than twenty-four hours from now… Yugi, Ryou, and Malik will finally return.'_

TBC…

* * *

VM: Sorry again, for the nth time, but we will continue this story no matter what! 

Ruriko: Here's what's up in the next chapter…

**_Chapter 7: The Hierophant  
_**_Join us as we take a trip deep into the Shadow Realm to see, after three long years, the bodies of our dearly-departed hikaris. Enter Keith and Tea… and here comes trouble!_

VM: I will do my best to bug RM till she starts wit d next chapter.

Ruriko: But it's your turn to start, remember? (teary puppy-dog eyes)

VM: not working. U used that on me too many times. Readers, we gotta go now. RM, run, I can hear Bakura's footsteps in the hallway!

(Footsteps stop. Door starts to open.)

VM & Ruriko: AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!


End file.
